Short-handed United stops Louisville City, keeps slim playoff hopes alive
Sep. 30—New Mexico United kept its slim playoff hopes alive Saturday night — and did it the hard way.
Harry Swartz and Nicky Hernandez provided the scoring in a raucous 2-0 win over Louisville City at Isotopes Park, and an inspired United defensive effort made the goals stand up.
New Mexico was tagged with two red cards in the second half and played two men down for the final 13 minutes of regulation plus stoppage time. It didn't prevent goalkeeper Andrew Thomas and his back line from posting a clean sheet and delighting an announced crowd of 11,106 on Indigenous Peoples Night.
"The crowd was amazing," United coach Eric Quill said. "It was like giving us two extra players with that crowd. But I thought we had an excellent mentality tonight, scrappy and fighting in all parts of the game. That's what I was most proud of."
Defender Kalen Ryden agreed.
"When we first went a man down, we kind of said, 'Let's dig in. Let's do it,'" Ryden said. "Then we go two men down and it was really no problem. Credit to everyone for that kind of fight and effort."
New Mexico (11-14-7) inched closer to the USL Championship's Western Conference playoff line, moving past Rio Grande Valley into 10th place. Oakland, Monterey Bay and El Paso — the three teams immediately in front of NMU in the standings — played late games Saturday night. United remained within three points or fewer of each of them with two games left.
Regardless of any assistance it received from other results, United came away with something to celebrate, defeating an Eastern Conference playoff qualifier and perennial league championship contender in front of its home crowd. The match even featured an odd sequence that left fans scratching their heads.
That came in the second half with United leading 1-0 and already down a man after Shanyder Borgelin received his second yellow card and was ejected. Hernandez broke free on a well-placed through ball from Amando Moreno and beat Louisville goalkeeper Oliver Sammle with a running blast from the left wing.
As he celebrated with fans in the south stands, Hernandez accepted a mask from a fan and briefly put it on. Turns out FIFA Law 12 prohibits the wearing of masks and any resulting delay. Hernandez, who had received a previous yellow card, drew an automatic caution and departed with the resulting red card in the 77th minute.
"I think we all learned a lesson tonight," Quill said. "I don't think any of us will ever put a mask on again."
United was not deterred by a two-man disadvantage, playing active, well-organized defense down the stretch. Louisville City (14-11-7) finished with a 13-10 shot advantage but rarely threatened Thomas in front of the net. Shots on target ended up 3-3 for the evening.
"I felt like that mentality, that approach was exactly what we needed," Thomas said. "This was a game I'll remember for the rest of my life, getting a clean sheet two men down. That effort was amazing."
New Mexico largely had the better of things in the first half and broke a scoreless deadlock in the 32nd minute. Borgelin got control of the ball in the penalty area and sent it forward to Swartz, who fired a deflected shot into the top of the net for his fifth tally of the season.
United led 1-0 at halftime but seemed in jeopardy when Borgelin received his red card in the 53rd minute. Instead, Hernandez provided a short-handed goal and it was Lou City that never seemed to fully recover.
United will try to carry the momentum from its unlikely win into the final two matches of the regular season. NMU visits Phoenix Rising FC on Saturday, Oct. 7 and finishes at home Oct. 13 against Memphis 901 FC.
