Box Score

HOUSTON – Houston Baptist scored first, but the fourth-ranked New Mexico Lobos scored two second-half goals and left Houston with a 2-1 victory in both teams' conference opener.

In the first-ever meeting between the Huskies and Lobos, the Huskies battled hard in trying to pull off the upset.

“We created a lot of opportunities in the first half,” said head coach Steve Jones. “We created space for ourselves in the attack, which led to a great goal by Thilo and Kris.”

New Mexico narrowly missed scoring the match's first goal just five minutes in, as there was a bad clear deep in the Husky zone and, with HBU goalkeeper Kevin Suarez out of position, Devon Sandoval had the ball in the middle of the box and a wide-open net. But Mark Gendi stuck a leg out and stopped the ball, keeping the match scoreless.

HBU scored the first goal of the match in the 15th minute, as Kristopher Tyrpak scored his second goal of the season, assisted by Thilo Borgmann. Borgmann's shot inside the box was stopped by Lobo keeper Victor Rodriguez, but the rebound found the foot of Tyrpak, who found the back of the net. It was only the fourth time all season that the opponent scored first against New Mexico.

The two teams continued to battle the final 30 minutes of the opening half. When the buzzer sounded, the Huskies were leading the Lobos, 1-0. New Mexico outshot HBU 5-3 and had five corner kicks to HBU's zero.

“We fought hard in the second half,” said Jones, “but we gave them a lot of space and a good team like New Mexico will take advantage.”

The Lobos came out more aggressive in the second half, as the majority of play was in the Husky defensive zone. The Lobos tied the match at one in the 64th minute, as Devon Sandoval sent a centering pass to Nik Robson, whose shot hit the lower right corner of the net.

Fourteen minutes later, New Mexico had its first lead of the match, as James Rogers scored, assisted by Blake Smith and Robson.

New Mexico outshot HBU 16-8 in the match and had a 12-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Suarez falls to 0-2-0 on the season and 0-1-0 in the conference after allowing two goals and making a season-high six saves. The six saves are the most in one game since he stopped seven against Adelphi Oct. 1, 2011.

Rodriguez improves to 7-0-0 and 1-0-0 in conference after making four saves and allowing one goal. It was the first time in three matches New Mexico (8-1-0, 1-0-0 MPSF) had allowed a goal.

“Our defense played a good game by keeping the ball out of harm's way and Kevin made some great saves,” said Jones. “Today's effort should be one the boys should be proud of. It proved we can play with the best in the country.”

HBU (2-5-0, 0-1-0 MPSF) will remain home for the next two games, hosting conference members Denver and Air Force. HBU-UD is on Friday at 7 pm and HBU-AFA is Sunday at 1 pm at Sorrels Field.