Redemption.
That might be the word on the mind of every UNM men's soccer player.
The Lobos take on the Denver Pioneers on Thursday at 7 p.m. in what junior captain Brandon Moss called the most important game of the season.
"This game is going to dictate who is in the driver's seat for the rest of the year in conference," he said. "If we win it, we control our own destiny. Right now, it's all up to us."
Why is this game any more important than the rest of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season? Surely it can't be more important than the Lobos' Sept. 19 game against then-No. 1 Indiana University, which they won in double overtime?
That's where Moss, head coach Jeremy Fishbein and the rest of the Lobos would disagree.
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Flashback to Oct. 17. The Lobos are coming off an Oct. 14 3-0 win against the Air Force Falcons, in which junior Jeff Rowland has just scored two goals to tie for the nation's lead in goals per game. They are the only team in the country with a perfect record at 10-0-0, good enough for three national polls to rank them No. 3.
Ninety minutes later after a missed Lobo penalty kick and a slew of shots off every inch of frame surrounding the Denver goal, the Lobos go down, 2-1.
"That was a tough game to lose," Moss said. "But it's not as bad as some might think. It doesn't change anything. We are going to keep doing the things that we've been doing."
The Lobos stagger back to the safe confines of their home field Thursday - they haven't lost there since Oct. 18, 2003 - after a 2-1-1 record in a four-game road trip that ended with a 1-1 tie against the San Diego State Aztecs. The Lobos conceded a goal with a minute and a half remaining in the game, giving the Aztecs an early piece of candy for Halloween.
"It's great to be back home finally," Fishbein said. "We played pretty well in some of these games, but it's hard when every team is out to get you. They all get up for their games against us, and we have to respond."
Moss echoed that sentiment.
"We're the biggest game of the year for most of these teams," Moss said. "They all come out for us like it's all that matters to them."
The Lobos can celebrate over their No. 1 position in the MPSF thanks to their own early bag of Halloween goodies from the San Jose State Spartans.
The Spartans took down the Pioneers 3-2 in double-overtime on Oct. 24 to catapult the Lobos out of the MPSF's second place and into the spot they had been so familiar with until crumbling against Denver.
Although UNM still holds a No. 2 national ranking in Soccer America magazine, they are as far down as No. 13 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll.
Moss said while their record has seen better days, the trials and tribulations this season are something they can use to their benefit.
"The loss (against Denver) definitely gets the stupid thought of going undefeated this year out of our heads, finally," he said.
