Nothing Unlucky As #10 Lobos Win Their 13th

by Matt Ensor
October 26, 2012

SAN JOSE, CALIF. - The tenth-ranked New Mexico men's soccer team won its 13th match of the season on Friday night with a 1-0 shutout at San Jose State University. The lone goal of the match came courtesy of junior defender Kyle Venter's first goal of the season.

"It was a tough match. I thought we had some good looks and should have had some more goals. That being said, it was a good win for us," commented Head Coach Jeremy Fishbein.

Venter's goal, which came in the 33rd minute, came off a free kick by the Lobos after SJSU's Christian Romero was given a yellow card. The direct kick bounced into a scrum that had formed in the box. Venter's shot from a dozen yards out would go in at the far post. Levi Rossi would be awarded his third assist of the season on the Venter goal.

"It was a set piece, and we were able to find Levi on the back post.  He got his head up and was able to cut it back to me. He was able to find me free, and I just tried to pick out the back post, which I was able to do," Venter said.  

Going into the match, UNM had the most players registering a goal in the nation with fourteen. Venter now makes it 15 Lobos to have tallied a goal in 16 matches this season.

Venter's first-half goal was a hint to UNM's statistical domination of the first half. The single goal was the culmination of the Lobos 8-1 shot advantage and 7-1 advantage on corner kicks.

 The scoreless second half saw New Mexico have the advantage in shots and corners again. By match's ends, the Lobos' advantages were 15-6 in shots and 13-4 on corner kicks. New Mexico goalkeeper Victor Rodriguez only tallied one save in his sixth shutout of the season.

New Mexico wasn't whistled for offsides for the entire match, which marked the first time that had happened this season.

The win is the 150th win for Head Coach Jeremy Fishbein at the University of New Mexico. The eleventh-year head coach is now just two wins away from tying his former mentor, Klaus Weber, for the all-time wins record at UNM.

Friday night's victory pushes the Lobos' record to 13-3-0 (6-2-0 MPSF). They will play their final regular season road game on Sunday afternoon on the campus of Seattle University. The match is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. (MT).

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