If there’s one thing to be said about New Mexico United heading to the East Coast, the matches aren’t without excitement. Since his arrival, Coach Eric Quill has said that this team will never stop attacking and they couldn’t afford to against North Carolina FC. That fight gave United everything they needed to storm past NCFC, 2-3.
United has never been concerned with holding the lion’s share of possession at any point in their existence. There is a strategy when it comes to inviting pressure and then springing a counterattack. In order for that to work though, a club has to be solid defensively and make stops in their own half. In the matches where United has tried to feature this tactic, Rhode Island and North Carolina FC, the club has found themselves facing more pressure than perhaps they anticipated.
That pressure came to bite United in just the 16th minute when a pass that was intended for Will Seymore wasn’t controlled. As the ball was played back to the central defender, Seymore made a stab at it with his right foot, but just couldn’t get a touch on it. The miss allowed Julian Placias to cut inside the defense and beat Alex Tambakis, despite his efforts to block the shot, for the lead, 1-0.
Frustration on their faces, United knew that going down early on the road could be a bad sign for the night. NCFC’s lead wouldn’t last long however as the Black & Yellow would find an answer in the 19th.
Marco Micaletto, the ever-dangerous midfielder, drove into the box of NCFC and while working his way toward goal, was taken down by Paco Craig, drawing a penalty. There was no argument this time about who was going to take it. Greg Hurst stood over the ball with a chance to draw level. The Scotsman’s run up caused Jake McGuire to go the wrong way as Hurst slotted into the bottom left corner for the goal, 1-1.
The frenetic pace of the opening half hour continued and the hosts would retake the lead minutes later. Ezra Armstrong, who had been terrorizing the left wing, linked up with Rafael Mentzingen to push the ball forward in the 28th. Mentzingen drove to the right side of the area, drawing the attention of three defenders. The rotation left the center of the area devoid of defenders, and Armstrong had plenty of room to take the cross and head it past Tambakis, 2-1.
Less than a minute later, Arturo Astorga took a chance and found an opening to play Hurst in behind the NCFC defenders. From near midfield, Astorga played the ball over the heads of NCFC, giving Hurst a chance to run off the shoulder and get it onto his right foot. As the ball came down, McGuire came well off of his line to try and stop Hurst. Taking advantage of the positioning, Hurst chipped the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net to square the score, 2-2.
Both sides came out of halftime appearing more composed, United especially, after seemingly abandoning playing out of the back. The pressure was creating more opportunities for the hosts to gain possession rather than allowing United to break the lines of NCFC. Chances were fewer for both clubs in the second half, but each did have opportunities to break the deadlock.
United’s next best chance came just after the hour mark, with Hurst looking for his hat trick.
In the 62nd, Hurst was sprung forward, once again being played behind by Astorga. Driving at the keeper, McGuire started off of his line, prompting Hurst to try to go to his left. As he did, the ball caromed off of an NCFC defender, killing the momentum of the attack.
United’s issues at the back reared their head in the 72nd when another pass went awry in the defensive third. This time it was Micaletto trying to play the ball back, but his pass only went to the feet of Placias, who was going at Tambakis. With essentially an open net in front of him, Placias took his chance, but he skied the ball into the stands, relieving the pressure from United.
Neither side looked to back down in the closing fifteen minutes of the match and there was plenty of end-to-end action as both were hoping for a winner. Once again, the choice of substitutes by Eric Quill paid off for United in the closing minutes of the match. After entering the match in the 64th minute, Sergio had been fairly quiet. But then came stoppage time.
In the first minute of stoppage time, Sergio did what he does so well, which is drive at defenders. In creating that space, he allowed Nicky Hernandez to push out wide. Hernandez looked back to Rivas in the area and put in a cross for the New Mexico native. On the volley, Rivas drove the ball into the ground, causing it to skip into the back of the net on one hop for the win, 2-3.
Player of the Match
Greg Hurst – Although he couldn’t do it on his own, it was the feet of Hurst that kept United in the match. His vision tonight gave United multiple opportunities to score. Confidence is building for Hurst and the early season goals are giving the striker plenty of momentum going forward.
Up Next
United continues their second lengthy road trip of the season when they head back to the East Coast to finish out that half of the non-conference schedule. Their final opponent of the league season will be the Tampa Bay Rowdies, who pulled out a draw against El Paso tonight. Coverage of that match will begin at 4:30 PM (MT) on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM The TEAM with the pregame show with Adam Diehl and Andy Hageman. Kickoff will follow at 5:30 PM (MT) from Al Lang Stadium.