New Mexico –2 Florida Atlantic-0 (Full Match Recap)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  – The University of New Mexico Lobos (8-3-2) were looking to capture a victory in their only day conference match of the season on Saturday afternoon. It was mission accomplished for New Mexico who defeated Florida Atlantic University (6-3-2) by a score of 2-0 to stay undefeated in Conference USA.  UNM received their two goals from Riley McGovern and Christopher Wehan as both goals were their second of the season.

The Lobo attack was active early in the match as New Mexico led the Owls in shots (nine to three) and corner kicks (six to zero) through the first 45 minutes of play. While the Cherry & Silver did not get a first-half goal, they did force FAU’s Theo Jamilloux to make five saves in the first half.

The Lobos got their first goal of the match after ten minutes of play in the second half. James Rogers attacked the Owl defense along the right side of the box. Rogers got around a defender and fired a shot from close range. Jamilloux saved the shot but couldn’t secure the rebound. A streaking Christopher Wehan was right on top of the rebound to put UNM on the board.

New Mexico continued to apply pressure in the Florida Atlantic half of the field. They held the advantage in shots (seven to two) in the second half as well. The pressure yielded an insurance goal for the Lobos in the 75^th minute. Mathew Gibbons played a lofty ball into the box that found Riley McGovern at the far post. McGovern brought down the pass and slipped a shot to the right of the FAU goalkeeper.

The win kept the Lobos in first place in Conference USA with an undefeated conference record of 4-0-1.

Scoring Summary

New Mexico (56:30) Christopher Wehan (James Rogers assist)

New Mexico (74:35) Riley McGovern (Mathew Gibbons assist)

Lineups

New Mexico: Lisch (GK), Gibbons, Venter, Gurule, Fisher, Kafari, McKendry, Calderon, McGovern, Rogers and Rochowski.

First Half Subs: Wehan (19:07), Hansen (25:55), Wypych (31:23), Goss (39:28)

Second Half Subs: Dye (71:07)

Quotable

“I thought it was a pretty mature performance from our team. It would have been nice to put one in the net earlier, but they made it difficult. They (FAU) stuck to their guns. They knew that if we spread them out then we would play through them a little bit. I thought they (FAU) also had a mature approach as well. They did get a couple of chances, not great chances, and gave themselves the best opportunity to win the game.” – Head Coach Jeremy Fishbein

“I think what happened today is we wore them down. We had a lot of the ball, and they had to chase. There were more opportunities that opened up, but we had good ones in the first half too. There’s not an excuse for that (not scoring in the first half). We got take our chances early and force teams to come out and play against us.” – Head Coach Jeremy Fishbein

Notes

• Michael Lisch recorded a conference-best sixth shutout of the season versus the Owls. Lisch has conceded just one goal in his last four matches, which accounts for nearly 400 minutes of action.
• The Lobos have now won four of their first five conference matches. It is just the second time the Lobos have done this since the 2007 season. UNM won all ten of their conference matches in the 2011 season.
• New Mexico is now undefeated in first-ever match-ups this season. The Lobos have faced Charlotte, Villanova and Florida Atlantic for the first time this season. UNM still has three more first-time opponents left on their schedule in South Carolina, Kentucky and Old Dominion.

Next Up

The New Mexico Lobos will take to the road for one match next week. Coach Fishbein and company will play at South Carolina on Saturday, October 26 at 5 p.m. (MT)