by Lee Cornell
Daily Lobo
The UNM men's soccer team had mixed reactions to the announcement of its seeding in the NCAA tournament at Coaches Sports Grill on Monday afternoon.
Cheers went up amongst the team as the Lobos' name appeared, but they quickly subsided as the players and coaches realized they would be taking to the road to face Bradley University in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
"I think the whole team is disappointed because we had a good record," senior Javier Carrasco said of the seeding.
With a 17-3 record on the season, a first-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation as well as winning the MPSF tournament, it seemed the 27th-ranked UNM had earned a home match in the NCAA tournament.
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A critical game that can be pointed to for doubting the Lobos, is a 2-0 loss in the last regular season match of the year to UNLV.
UNM played without three starters, who were either sick or injured for that game. It turned out to be the only conference loss for the Lobos, but may have been a costly one as far as their chances for hosting an NCAA tournament match.
At Coaches, everyone starting asking - where is Bradley?
"I hear it's close to Chicago," Carrasco said.
Bradley is actually located in Peoria, Ill., about 164 miles southwest of Chicago.
The Braves posted a 14-5-4 record on the season and got a crucial victory over fourth-ranked Southern Methodist University in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament last weekend.
Bradley eventually lost to Creighton 1-0 in the finals but earned an at large bid to the tournament.
UNM has played Bradley twice in its history and won both games. The last was a 6-0 thumping at University Stadium in 1994.
First-year head coach Jeremy Fishbein is confident that the road trip will not affect the team dramatically.
"We would love to play at home," he said. "But, we're just happy to be playing."
This marks the second year in a row that the Lobos have reached the NCAA tournament.
Last year, they did it the unconventional way, going into the MPSF tournament seeded last before sweeping through the tournament for an unlikely birth into the NCAA.
UNM continued its wild ride, defeating Florida International 1-0 in the first round before succumbing to top-ranked SMU 2-0 in the second round.
With that said, the Lobos come into this year's tournament with more experience.
"We have a confident group," Fishbein said. "Our guys are used to running big games."
UNM went unbeaten at home this year, going 10-0 at the UNM Soccer Complex. The Lobos also excelled in close matches, putting up a perfect 4-0 mark in overtime games.
How well the Lobos have played at home is irrelevant with their next two matches coming on the road. Fishbein expressed his interest in finding out as much as possible about Bradley and the field UNM will be playing on.
"A lot could be determined by weather or field conditions," he said. "We'll start hitting the phones and try to get some tape."
Game time is set for 4 p.m., Saturday in Peoria, Ill. The winner of the match moves on to the second round to face perennial soccer power, Saint Louis University.
