Runners, Weems Show Valiant Effort in 10-8 Defeat to Wings

Rio Rancho, NM - The Brian Weems era of New Mexico Runners soccer was officially ushered in on Sunday as the Wichita Wings made their first visit of the year to the City of Vision. It was the third meeting of the season and the second in consecutive weeks for the two clubs, with the Wings flying away from the Runners late in the match yet again.

New Mexico’s strong start propelled them to an early lead, with goals from Michael Stephens and Michael Wissman in the opening minutes. A blue card was shown to Alejandro Garcia of the Runners, which would lead to Wichita getting themselves on the board through a powerplay goal off the foot of Radley Arnold. New Mexico’s Nicholas Cashmere netted the opener of an eventual brace, intercepting an attempted pass from Wichita goalkeeper Jose Ocampo, and despite a penalty for two many men on the field that sent two Runners to the penalty box, New Mexico led after the opening frame.

Wichita mounted a run in the early stages of quarter two, with Kieran Laking netting three in a row to give the Wings their first lead of the match with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half. Jared Robbins extended the Wichita lead to two, while Benji Rogers ended the Runners scoring drought shortly, capitalizing on the counterattack. Shortly after, Cashmere would deliver the tying goal, after a rebounding pass from Froilan Ramirez that ricocheted off the baseline wall. The Runners took back the lead in the final two minutes before the break, with opening goal scorer Stephens forcing a turnover and hammered it in himself heading into halftime.

Wichita dominated the possession battle in the second half, with the Runners struggling to create chances on counterattacks like they were successful doing in the early stages. New Mexico’s defensive efforts were the cornerstone of their most competitive outing of the season, anchored by goalkeeper Nate Yeager, who posted a season-high save percentage.

A lone David Lucio goal tied the match ahead of the final period, where the Wings would reclaim the lead in the opening minutes. On the ensuing Runners possession, a foul would be called on a scoring opportunity, which sent Wissman to partake in the penalty shootout. In a duel with Ocampo in goal, Wissman converted the penalty into a point, and the match was level again. Moments after, a pair of unsportsmanlike penalties handed to the Wings, putting the Runners in a power-play situation. It was then Wissman breaking the tie, boasting his second hat-trick in as many games with the club.

With victory in sight for New Mexico, Wichita responded emphatically, scoring three unanswered in the fourth, with the Runners shown a costly blue card while trailing, which drastically stalled comeback efforts. Even with Cashmere replacing Yeager in goal as the extra attacker, New Mexico could not find any goals in the closing minutes.

The Runners are set to return to action in four weeks' time, where they will host Wichita in their final match-up of the season. The match is set to kick off at 3:05 PM Mountain time on February 23.