One exhibition game into the season and Matt Wootton's stat sheet reads like a forward's dream - one shot, one goal.
It's just that Wootton isn't a forward.
He's the left back for the UNM men's soccer team, and he scored the lone goal in a 1-1 tie against No. 19-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Monday night.
"It felt great," he said. "You know, I've always contributed defensively for the team. It's nice to contribute in a different way finally."
The Lobos - ranked No. 6 in CollegeSoccerNews.com's Preseason Top-30 poll - scored in the 35th minute against the Irish.
Freshman German Gomez threw the ball in from the left side and after it ping-ponged around the penalty box several times, it popped out to Wootton.
From 20 yards out, Wootton blasted a shot that sailed past Notre Dame goalkeeper Chris Cahill to procure the 1-0 lead.
It was short-lived though, as the Lobos failed to seal the victory in the second half.
In the 57th minute, Notre Dame midfielder Nate Norman sent a cross in that found the head of Nate Miller. Miller headed the ball off the crossbar, but must have had his lucky charms, because it ricocheted down into the right side of the net.
"We played very well in the first half," head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. "We probably should have put the game away. The second half we had a little bit of a letdown the first 20 to 30 minutes."
Wootton said the team was not happy with the tie. The 1-1 result was a lot like wanting a filet mignon and getting a McDonald's hamburger patty instead.
"We're definitely not happy with a tie," Wootton said. "We knew we were the better team and we deserved to win. We came in confident and we figured some things out, but we wanted to win."
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Rowland was as disappointed with the game as he was with his own play. The forward had six shots. Three of those came on goal, one of which clanged off the crossbar.
"I'm very disappointed, but I know it'll come for me," he said.
If last year is any indication, it should come quick for Rowland. He scored five goals in the first two games of the 2004 season for the Lobos, a 3-2 defeat over Delaware and a 2-1 overtime win against Virginia Commonwealth.
And it's not like it tapered off much from there. He finished with 19 goals and seven assists last season, good enough to rank him in the top five in scoring in the NCAA and snag him first-team All-American honors.
UNM returns six starters from last year's team that went 17-1-2, finishing the season as the only one loss squad in the NCAA and the No. 1-ranked team in the country in the Soccer America poll.
"We couldn't be more happy with the new guys," Wootton said. "It's hard when you have a bunch of new guys, but we're happy with the way they've played so far."
All in all, four new players saw time in the Lobos' Monday night game. True freshmen Brandon Barklage and Mike Giffin logged 62 minutes and 29 minutes respectively, while Portland University transfer Josh Brown played the whole game and newcomer Lars Loeseth played 80 minutes.
Loeseth skis for UNM's Alpine ski team, and joined the soccer team this season after playing with them during the spring season.
The Lobos have one more exhibition game at home against Division II Fort Lewis on Monday night at 7 p.m.
It's regular season starts on Sept. 2 against No. 20-ranked Pennsylvania State.
