New Mexico Beats No. 6 Fullerton
New Mexico scored two second-half goals to upset sixth-ranked Cal State Fullerton, 2-0, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s soccer game Friday in Albuquerque.
It was the Lobos’ first victory over a ranked team since 1997, when they beat No. 2 Southern Methodist.
Ty Hibbert scored on a header in the 47th minute to give the Lobos (6-6, 1-0) the lead and six minutes later Nate Barton outran the Titan defense and slipped a shot past goalkeeper Scott Alexander.
Fullerton, which outshot New Mexico, 18-10, had several opportunities to rally in the second half. But the aggressive play of New Mexico keeper Chad Nelson, who recorded his second shutout of the season, kept the Titans from hitting the back of the net. Nelson finished with five saves.
Fullerton is 10-3, 2-1.
In a Big West Conference women’s soccer match:
UC Irvine 2, Pacific 1--Brittny Zimmerman scored in the 78th minute to help the Anteaters retain their faint title hopes.
The Anteaters (5-7-2, 2-2-1 in conference) trailed, 1-0, when Robyn Piotrowski knocked in a header off Lauren Kim’s free kick in the 58th minute to tie the score. Zimmerman then took a pass from Janelle Doyle, moved in untouched and buried the ball into the upper-left corner of the net from 20 yards out.
“We showed a lot of character tonight,” Anteater Coach Marine Cano said. “They went up, 1-0, and we could have had a big letdown. But no way. We trained all year to get a goal at a time. We did that tonight.”
Pacific (8-5, 4-2) took the lead in the 51st minute when Brooke Kentera made a 25-yard run down the left side, then found Jamee Lucchesi with a crossing pass. Lucchesi scored on a header from three yards out.
