Final sprint: United aims to build postseason momentum at home

Sunday, 3 p.m., TV: CBS Sports Network (English), Estrella (Spanish); Streaming: KRQE.com, ESPN+ (No radio)

Six days and counting.

That's what's left in New Mexico United's marathon eight-month season. It's almost time to kick your feet up, pop open a cold beverage and take a well-earned soccer break, right?

Perhaps not.

United, which hosts Oakland Roots SC for a nationally televised 3 p.m. match on Sunday, is hoping to push its brief offseason back well into November. NMU has secured at least one home playoff match (Nov. 1, opponent to be determined) and would love to use the next six days to springboard a deep playoff run.

New Mexico hosts Rhode Island FC on Friday to conclude the regular season before opening the postseason at Isotopes Park. It amounts to a four-game homestand for United, which played to a 3-3 draw with visiting Orange County last week. There's no real must-win pressure for NMU this week, which will finish either second, third or fourth in the USL Championship Western Conference and host a first-round postseason match for the second straight year.

Still, United goes into the season's final week riding a five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2) and badly wants to carry that form into the playoffs.

"Momentum is everything," coach Dennis Sanchez said. "It builds within a game and goes on from game to game. We have an opportunity to carry positive momentum into the postseason and we're not taking that for granted."

New Mexico received a gift during the week when rival San Antonio FC lost to Orange County, locking up a first-round home game for United. NMU goes into Sunday's match in third place, one point behind second-place Sacramento. Both teams have two matches remaining and Republic FC holds the tiebreaker, meaning United needs to win and receive help to finish second and earn the right to host a potential second playoff game.

Defender Chris Gloster believes it's an important prize.

"Home playoff games are super important," he said. "We have one of the best fan bases in the USL and being able to secure that first home playoff match was really big — for us and the fans. They follow us everywhere but playing at home takes it to another level. We want to try to play as many games here as possible."

Sanchez agreed, adding that United does not necessarily need to rest key players during its final two regular-season games.

"I think we're in a good spot," Sanchez said. "I feel like the energy within the group is hitting another gear right now. If you look at our last three or four performances, they may be the best that we've had all season.

"We're in a position where we don't have to consider of resting guys," he added. "We're conscious of guys coming back from injury and mindful of their minutes, but really we're focused now on finishing strong and in a good rhythm."

While United received good news from other results around the league this week, Oakland got the opposite. The Roots' slim playoff hopes were dashed when Orange County won on Wednesday, leaving them to play as spoilers facing no significant pressure in Sunday's nationally televised matchup.

Sanchez hopes United and its fans will build their own intensity over the season's final six days.

"We use our supporters as very much a 12th man," he said. "We always want to use their energy to our advantage. We probably won't get every game at home in the playoffs, but this group has proven it's capable of winning home or away. Right now, the priority is to play our best and carry that form to the postseason."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Oakland (7-14-7): Expect the Roots to come out firing in Sunday's nationally televised game. Why not? Oakland was eliminated from playoff contention this week and has nothing to gain by playing conservatively at Isotopes Park. Besides, Oakland does have enough firepower to put on an entertaining show with red-hot striker Peter Wilson leading the way. Wilson ranks second in the USL Championship with 15 goals and leads his club by far with 42 shots. (Danny Trejo is second with 18). Wilson has been on an impressive tear recently with goals in his last six games. He's only two off Haji Barry's USLC record for consecutive games with a goal scored. Oakland has other dangerous finishers, including Trejo (5 goals) and Wolfgang Prentice (4), but defense is an ongoing issue. The Roots have conceded a league-high 49 goals.

New Mexico (13-10-5): San Antonio's loss to Orange County on Wednesday secured a home playoff match, but United has plenty to play for in Sunday's match. NMU still has a chance to finish as high as second in the Western Conference standings, which could translate to an extra home playoff game. Equally important is that New Mexico finds its best form over the final two games, something it did not display in last week's 3-3 draw with Orange County. NMU was missing a pair of key defensive pieces in Zico Bailey (international duty) and Gedion Zelalem (card accumulation), and it was evident in the high number of quality shots OC put together. To its credit, United did show considerable spark on the attacking end, getting two goals from Greg Hurst and another from defender Kipp Keller on corner kick.

GOAL KICKS: United defeated Oakland 3-0 in the teams' previous meeting this year on May 24. NMU got goals from Chris Gloster, Bailey and Mukwelle Akale. ... With two games left, United is eight goals short of the 48 it scored last season. On the other hand, NMU has conceded 34 goals — 12 fewer than its 2024 total — and has 10 clean sheets, one more than last season's total.