New Mexico Falls Short Against Juarez, 9-11

Rio Rancho, N.M. (January 26, 2019) – After two games on the road including a thrilling victory over Santa Fe just last week, it was evident the New Mexico Runners were hungry for their second win of the season. Unfortunately, New Mexico fell short at home to Ciudad Juarez in a nail-biter by a score of 9-11 at the Santa Ana Star Center on Saturday night.

In front of 912 fans, the Runners opened Saturday’s game scoring two goals off six shots with the defense holding the Cuervos to just one goal in the first quarter. It was evident Goalkeeper Casey Gasson was the star of the game empowering the Runners defense to hold Juarez to just 4 total goals in the first half. Forward Jaime Rodriguez led the offensive charge scoring two of the five goals in the first half and finishing the game with four.

Saturday night’s game bared no resemblance to the last meeting of these two teams where the Runners were outgunned 14-6 in El Paso.

New Mexico was flying high coming out of halftime. Possessing momentum and the lead, they scored twice before the first media timeout. Despite the Runners high flying offense, the defense was unable to overcome a series of penalties that left the team shorthanded for over 12 minutes throughout the course of the second half. Miraculously, the Runners managed to overcome the penalties and were poised for a victory with Rodriguez scoring a much-needed goal putting the Runners up 9-8 with less than ten minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The Runners fought hard to hold the lead, but unfortunately racked up four penalties in the fourth quarter which weakened the defensive stand leading to the loss to the Cuervos. The Juarez managed to score three goals down the stretch to win the game 9-11. 

While it’s not the result the Runners were looking for, the team indisputably played their best game of the season. Gasson was the leader on the carpet registering 21 blocks and saves on 32 total shots and Midfielder Luis Loera managed to sweep in 2  goals.

New Mexico is now 1-4 on the season as they are back on the road in two weeks heading to El Paso for a rematch against the Cuervos. They will be back in action at the Santa Ana Star Center for a two game home stand beginning on February 10 against the Colorado Rumble.

The Runners will rematch the Cuervos of Ciudad Juarez on the road in two weeks. The match-up will take place on Friday February 8^th, 2019 with a scheduled 4:30 PM kick-off at the El Paso Coliseum.

The New Mexico Runners are an arena soccer team based in Rio Rancho, NM and current members of Major Arena Soccer League M2 (MASL2). The Runners play their home games at Santa Ana Star Center and season tickets are on sale NOW by calling 505.663.7RUN (7786). For more information on the Runners, visit http://www.newmexicorunners.com as well as LIKE, FOLLOW and SHARE on social media at @nmrunners.

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Photo Credit: Chris @capturedbychrisnm_action