Over at last: Archiméde's goal helps United stop tailspin

New Mexico United put an end to some long, unpleasant streaks Saturday night.

Luther Archiméde banged home a second-half goal, Kris Shakes came up big in goal and United pulled out a much-needed 1-0 road victory over San Antonio FC at Toyota Field.

About those frustrating streaks:

New Mexico had gone more than 250 minutes since its last goal when Archiméde shook the net in Saturday’s 67th minute. NMU was coming off back-to-back shutouts and had only managed two combined shots on target in those contests.

Worse still, United had not tasted victory since a June 21 home win over San Antonio, going 0-5-2 in USL Championship matches over that span and sliding from first place to eighth in the Western Conference standings. Saturday’s win lifted New Mexico into a four-way tie for fifth place in the tightly bunched race.

Saturday’s win was by no means an artistic success. The teams combined for 34 fouls, 10 yellow cards (two on NMU’s bench), one red card and what amounted to a physical slog on a hot, humid night in San Antonio. Still, the final score looked pretty good to United coach Dennis Sanchez and his players.

“We needed that,” Sanchez said. “We knew with that matchup any win was not going to be pretty, but the guys buckled down and got the job done. After some long plane flights home the last couple months, I’ll take a 1-0 shutout.”

United played with a man advantage from the 32nd minute on after SAFC’s Landry Walker drew a red card for stepping on NMU’s Greg Hurst. NMU took advantage and held 57% of possession but was unable to break through with a goal until the 67th minute.

Archiméde broke the ice after taking a well-placed lead pass from Dayonn Harris on the right wing. With Archiméde and SAFC defender Abdi Salim in a footrace toward the box, San Antonio goalkeeper Daniel Namani raced off his line in an attempt to cut the play off. Archiméde worked around Namani and right-footed the ball into an open net for his first New Mexico goal.

“Dayonn plays with a lot of verticality and so does Luther,” Sanchez said. “It was a well-executed goal and just shows that we can be dangerous in those situations.”

Scoring chances had been few up to that point, but both teams nearly cashed in during a wild 2-minute span after Archiméde’s goal. Valentin Noel appeared to make it 2-0 for NMU but his goal was waved off for a controversial offside call. SAFC then countered and forced a diving stop by Shakes on a bullet by Santiago Patino that could have evened the score.

Shakes was credited with just two saves in earning his third clean sheet of the season, but he made numerous key plays to turn SAFC away in the closing minutes. New Mexico backed into a defensive shell late as the hosts desperately pressed for a tying goal.

“I thought Shakes had another positive night,” Sanchez said, “and the back line with Kalen (Ryden) and Kipp (Keller) in the center was solid.”

United was outshot 12-5 overall but most of SAFC’s attempts were from distance and well off target. NMU finished with a 3-2 edge in shots on target and was able to walk away with a long-awaited win.

“I think there’s a sense of relief,” Sanchez said, “but now we’ve got to build on it. We get to come home with a little momentum and something to feel good about, but every match is big now. We can’t let up.”

New Mexico returns home for a pair of matches this week, hosting Detroit City FC on Wednesday and Western Conference-leading FC Tulsa on Saturday.