Offense is thinking Green

Just because Michael Green is a midfielder, doesn’t mean he’s not leading the front lines for the UNM men’s soccer team.
Known mainly for his finesse and passing talents, Green will be called upon to score more this season, said UNM men’s head soccer coach Jeremy Fishbein.

Fishbein said Green will dictate how successful the Lobos’ campaign is this year.
“Green is a big piece of the puzzle to this team,” he said. “He had a great season last year and is only going to improve.”
Green was a standout at Strongsville high school in Strongsville, Ohio, and at the club level as well.

In high school, Green was a four-year letterman, a 2007 NSCAA high school All-American and the Ohio Player of the Year. As well as winning Player of the Year, he was selected to be an ESP participant — an honor only given to the top 150 seniors in the country — and was put on the all-star team at the conclusion of the camp.

At the club level, Green received the 2007 NSCAA youth All-American award while playing for the Columbus Crew MLS Academy, where he won the Ohio North State Cup four times. He was also ranked as the top 20 recruits in the country by RISE magazine.

Green had offers to play at a number of top-ranked Division I schools, but he said something clicked after his visit to UNM.
“Once I came on my recruiting visit here, I knew this was the school where I wanted to play,” he said.
Green had an immediate impact his freshman year, playing in all 19 of the Lobos’ games and starting eight of them, games during which he tallied two goals and three assists.

But during that season Green had some of his career highs and lows.
“My freshman year we beat Akron at home, who was the No. 1 team in the nation at the time, and it was a
really good feeling,” he said.

The next weekend, though, the Lobos traveled to play Washington and opened an early two-goal lead, with Green scoring the second, but eventually fell to the Huskies in a 3-2 loss.

“That weekend was really hard,” Green said. “The team as a whole played bad, especially coming off such a big win the week before.”
Green has morphed into an offensive standout at midfield last season, whether it was scoring from long range or setting up teammates with passes for easy goals. His biggest contribution came in a 2-0 victory over Cal State Northridge where he scored both goals.

This season, Green will look to fill the offensive void left by departing offensive standouts Justin Davis and Stephen Brown, both of whom combined for 12 goals and 10 assists last season.

“Michael has a big challenge this season to improve and become a bigger leader on the team,” Fishbein said. “If he does that, he can have a really good season.”

Green said he’s not thinking about it like that.
“I don’t really set goals for myself, but we are ready,” he said. “This team has some real mental toughness and good athletic ability. We want to win for the team and for the fans that have always showed incredible support to us. It is always a great feeling playing in front of them.”