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PORTALES, New Mexico – Lightning in the New Mexican sky shortened the match by at least six minutes, zapping Texas A&M International’s comeback bid against Eastern New Mexico on Thursday in Portales, N.M.
The Dustdevils equalized the match on a Camilo Botero goal just four minutes before the match was called, officially because of darkness with the result locked at a 2-all draw. Lightning delayed the match by more than an hour.
TAMIU (1-2-1, 0-0 Heartland) was facing the Greyhounds (2-3-1) in its third game of a four-game road trip with stops at the University of Mary and No. 22 Fort Lewis College in Colorado. The expedition’s finale will be on Saturday at No. 9 West Texas A&M in Canyon, Texas.
The Dustdevils opened the match’s scoring in the 23rd minute when freshman forward Ryan Hodgson, of Sunderland, England, headed home a strike of splendor. Spanish senior Diego Manzano-Cano – TAMIU’s leading scorer with three – took a break from bulging the net, instead sending an assist to Hodgson.
Hodgson nodded his first tally of the season into the net, wrangling a goal off three shots in the match. The lead held up for the remainder of the first half and eight minutes into the second half, but that’s when the Carlos Mendoza buried a point-blank delivery from Carlos Viveros to equalize the Greyhounds at 1.
Twenty-five minutes later, Kal Herbert punched his fourth goal of the year – this time off a free kick from 25 yards out – to beat TAMIU goalkeeper Jesus Cisneros.
With the Dustdevils trailing for the first time and with darkness creeping onto the lightless field, Botero knotted the match back up after beating ENMU goalkeeper Severin Niessen with a slick delivery from Arturo Gutierrez.
The match was called just four minutes later, officially in the 84th minute of what could have totaled to be an overtime decision.
With one match remaining on the road trip, the Dustdevils will return for four consecutive matches at the TAMIU Soccer Complex, starting with Heartland Conference foe St. Mary’s on Sept. 27. They then meet Midwestern State on Sept. 29 before closing with Rogers State and Newman on Oct. 5 and 7, respectively.
