#11 New Mexico –7  Villanova- 2 (Match Report)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Head Coach Jeremy Fishbein and the eleventh-ranked New Mexico Lobos were hoping to have plenty of fireworks for their home fans in their season opener versus Villanova. With a spirited crowd filled with vuvuzelas, UNM fed off the Lobo faithful and delivered seven goals Friday night.

James Rogers drew first blood when he corralled a bouncing corner kick and found the back of the net in the 22^nd minute. The frenzied crowd was silenced just 23 seconds later when a defensive lapse by New Mexico gave Villanova the equalizer courtesy of Padraic McCullaugh.

UNM came back with three goals in a nine minute span to take control of the game 4-1 at half time. The trio of goals featured a second goal from James Rogers along with scores from Michael Calderon and Riley McGovern.

The Lobo attack did not waver in the second half as freshman Niko Hansen played a role in all three goals in the final 45 minutes. The forward scored twice while assisting on another goal as he celebrated with a backflip, which conjured up memories of former Lobo Blake Smith. Hansen’s five points in his collegiate debut is among the best performances by a freshman in his first career UNM match.

Highlights

Scoring Summary

New Mexico: (21:17) James Rogers (unassisted)

Villanova: (21:40) Padraic McCullaugh (Matt Wiltse Assist)

New Mexico: (30:13) Michael Calderon  Penalty Kick

New Mexico: (35:14) Riley McGovern (Michael Calderon Assist)

New Mexico: (38:42) James Rogers (Riley McGovern)

New Mexico: (49:09) Niko Hansen (Josh Goss Assist)

New Mexico: (80:51) Michael Calderon (Niko Hansen Assist)

New Mexico: (81:52) Niko Hansen (Unassisted)

Villanova: (82:15) Chris Hill (Oscar Umar)

Interviews

New Mexico Lineups

New Mexico starters: Lisch (GK), Fisher, Venter, Miele, Gibbons, McKendry, Kafari, Rogers, Calderon, Hansen and Wehan.

First half substitutes:  Wypych (34:44), Goss (38:42),

Second half substitutes: Dye (50:47), Rochowski (63:29), Armstrong-GK(76:35), Harris (78:24), Reyes (78:24), Gurule (81:21), Klepac (82:12)

Quotes

“Offensively I thought we were pretty good. We haven’t had a lot of our big guns out there together during practice until just the last couple of days.  I didn’t know quite what to expect. Our goal going into the game was to be good defensively and the offense would come around. We were really good today on the ball.”

-Head Coach Jeremy Fishbein

“It (tonight) feels great. We were struggling a little bit in the beginning in the exhibition games. We lost against Air Foce and came back with a win at Denver. And now we are pretty happy with this score… We took an opportunity, with every chance we had, and we made it happen.”

– Michael Calderon

“I think it’s just good because we have been working very hard, and that we were ready to play.”

– James Rogers on team’s passing

Notes

• Friday night’s 7-2 win marks pushes the Lobos’ undefeated streak to six in season openers. The Lobos haven’t dropped the first match of the season since losing to Akron to open the 2007 season.
• UNM’s seven goals versus Villanova are the most goals scored in a season opener since the Lobos won 7-2 against Loyola-Chicago to open the 1994 season.
• Three different Lobos scored multiple goals, which included freshman Niko Hansen who scored twice with an assist in his first official game. It marks the first time in the Jeremy Fishbein era (2002-present) that a trio of Lobos found the back of the net two times apiece.
• Riley McGovern’s goal in the 36^th minute was the Farmington native’s first career goal.
• Michael Calderon’s two-goal, one-assist performance marks the second time in the last three matches the midfielder has tallied five points. The Costa Rican had two goals and an assist in the Lobos’ 3-1 win over Virginia in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

Next Up

The Lobos will take to the road for a pair of tough road matches. Coach Fishbein and company will play at #24 VCU on Friday, September 6 at 7 p.m. at SportsBackers stadium in Richmond, Virginia. The Cherry & Silver will then play at #3 Georgetown on Sunday afternoon.