United races past Indy Eleven
Sep. 15—Rarely has a promotional night been more fitting.
New Mexico United made the most of Hispanic Heritage Night in fine fashion Friday, getting three goals from Hispanic players and pulling out a 3-2 victory over Indy Eleven at Isotopes Park.
Sergio Rivas, Nicky Hernandez and Justin Portillo netted goals for New Mexico, which snapped a pair of frustrating streaks. NMU ended a three-game winless skid and put a long scoring drought to bed when Rivas found the net late in the first half.
United had come out on the short end of 1-0 results in its previous two matches.
The victory did not move New Mexico out of 10th place in the USL Championship's Western Conference standings, but it did keep United's faint playoff hopes alive. United trails eighth-place El Paso by three points for the final playoff spot and is four points behind Oakland and Colorado Springs with five games left in the regular season.
"We got a little momentum and we know we can play with anyone," United coach Eric Quill said. "The season is a long-distance run but now its time to stretch our legs and push it, have some fun and try to give our fans some joy. Tonight was the start we needed."
Rivas, Hernandez and Portillo did the promotional-night honors but they weren't the only stars of the night for United, which snapped Indy's five-game unbeaten streak. With Indy leading 1-0 on an early Sebastian Guenzatti goal, the visitors had an opportunity to strike again when they were awarded a penalty kick in the 26th minute.
But United goalkeeper Andrew Thomas dove to his left to make a superb save on Guenzatti's PK, drawing a roar from the announced crowd of 8,527 and turning the momentum of the contest.
"I'm just so happy to contribute," Thomas said. "I'm happy I went the right way, happy to make the stop and really happy to get three points."
Quill called Thomas' stop the turning point of the match.
"Andrew flipped the game on its head," he said. "That save gave us life."
New Mexico got a much-needed equalizer from Rivas in the 44th minute, sending the home team to halftime with momentum. Rivas took a well-placed lead pass from Hernandez and powered a shot off the hand of Indy goalkeeper Tim Trilk and into the back of the net. It was Rivas' seventh goal of the season.
"I really wanted to shoot," Hernandez conceded with a smile. "But the center back knew I'd taken some from distance and I think that gave us a little space. Instinct kicked in, I saw Sergio and he hit a great shot."
NMU continued to press in the second half and finally grabbed a lead in the 65th minute when a Zico Bailey pass led Hernandez into open space on the right wing. Hernandez eluded a defender and fired a left-footed shot past Trilk to make it 2-1.
"That was a great team goal," Hernandez said. "So many people touched the ball. Transition is something we work so much on and it paid off in that situation. Great team goal."
It stayed 2-1 until the 80th, when Trilk tripped up NMU's Greg Hurst in the penalty area on a one-on-one opportunity. Portillo drained the resulting penalty kick to make the score 3-1.
It was NMU's first penalty opportunity since Portillo scored in the season-opener in Miami on March 18.
"I was glad to see us keep pushing and trying to get that third goal," Quill said. "One-goal leads are dangerous and you don't want to sit on that. If you keep pushing and capitalize, the percentages of getting a win are in your favor. That's the approach you have to take."
United will not have much time to enjoy the victory with a difficult week ahead. NMU visits Western Conference leader Sacramento on Wednesday and travels to face Eastern Conference-leading Pittsburgh on Saturday, Sept. 23.
Friday's match was delayed for an hour due to lightning.
