Story and Photos By Cody Olivas, The Taos News
Fans wearing red, and some blue, filled the Eco Park’s 750 person-capacity bleachers to watch the University of New Mexico men’s soccer team play the Air Force Academy, Saturday (April 21), and the teams put on a show, battling to get a head on every ball, working to create scoring opportunities and diving to make saves in the goal.
University of New Mexico’s Devon Sandoval, 9, out jumps the Air Force Academy’s Erice Tise, 4, and Patrick Compton, 11, to get a head on the ball Saturday (April 21) in the Taos Eco Park’s second annual NCAA and Club Soccer Showcase.
Despite some hard shots, the game was scoreless for nearly 90 minutes.
Air Force headed a corner kick into New Mexico’s goal eight minutes into the second half, but the goal was waved off because a Falcon pushed off on the set play.
With just under a minute left, New Mexico’s Blake Smith got a ball on the right side of the box, went left and then kicked a shot back to the near post, sneaking it just inside the post for the game winning goal. The 1-0 victory was New Mexico’s third straight win against the Air Force by a single goal.
The goal was also similar to the one Smith scored with 46 seconds left in Colorado Springs in 2011 that gave UNM a 2-1 win.
“We played very well, and had a majority of possession and chances, but didn’t finish,” said UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein, who was able to play all three of his keepers and 16 field players. “We made the game much more difficult than it needed to be. It was great to get young players significant minutes versus a very good Division I opponent.”
The game was the highlight of the Taos Eco Park NCAA and Club Soccer Showcase, which expanded this year from one weekend to two weekends, showcasing women’s soccer the first week and men’s soccer the next.
Air Force’s goalkeeper, Matt Underwood, dives to deflect a shot and keep the game scoreless.
“I think the event went great; the expansion of the showcase into two weeks was really successful,” said Joel Israel of the Taos Sports Alliance.
The event was so successful that next year it will expand again, taking place on three or four weekends. Israel said every team that played this year wants to come back next year and other programs have also expressed interest in playing in the showcase.
Using a formula accepted by economists, Israel estimated that the soccer showcase brought in almost a quarter million dollars to the local economy.