Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
CMI staff photo: Joshua LuceroENMU goalkeeper Fredrik Widfeldt repels a Midwestern Dtate shot on goal in the first overtime of Friday's LSC match in Portales.
The Eastern New Mexico University men's soccer team may be the only one of the four in the Lone Star Conference not in the NCAA Division II national rankings, but the Greyhounds have shown they can hold their own.
The Hounds battled 21st-ranked Midwestern State to a 1-1 draw on Friday at the ENMU pitch, and went toe-to-toe with the Mustangs throughout the match.
Junior midfielder Eishu Kanemitsu tapped in the tying goal from inside the box with about 12 1/2 minutes left, and the Hounds (9-4-1, 0-1-1 LSC) held on through two overtime periods.
Senior forward Michael Stewart flicked a pass to Kanemitsu after a scramble in front of the MSU goal.
CMI staff photo: Joshua Lucero
ENMU goalkeeper Fredrik Widfeldt repels a Midwestern Dtate shot on goal in the first overtime of Friday's LSC match in Portales.
Fifth-year coach ENMU Harold Munoz was hoping for a win, of course, but he wasn't that disappointed with a tie.
"I give complete credit to our guys," he said. "We matched up with them. That's a very good team, and it's a good result for us."
The tie ensures a third winning season for ENMU under Munoz, with Sunday's 1 p.m. home match against 10th-ranked Incarnate Word and road outings against UIW, MSU and No. 17 West Texas A&M left.
"Every game we play now is against a nationally-ranked opponent," Munoz said. "They came closer to winning it in overtime — they had a couple of opportunities, but our guys came up big."
Neither team had a shot on goal in the opening half, although MSU (8-1-4, 0-1-1) had a goal wiped out by an offsides penalty. Sophomore midfielder Andrew Power put the Mustangs ahead nearly five minutes into the second half, finding a wide open net on the left side after a shot by junior forward/midfielder VcMor Eligwe deflected off the hands of ENMU freshman goalkeeper Fredrik Widfeldt.
Widfeldt had five saves in the match while his MSU counterpart, Ray Clark, made four.
"It was two teams playing hard," MSU coach Doug Elder said. "I thought we had some chances, especially in overtime. Unfortunately, if you don't score on those, you don't win the game."
