by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
After two straight road trips, the players on the Lobo men's soccer team can finally unpack their bags.
And sleep in their own beds, too.
The No. 3-ranked Lobos beat West Virginia on Sunday 2-0, and took down South Florida on Friday night 3-2 in Dallas, Texas, at the Southern Methodist University Radisson Hotel Classic to start the season 4-0. The team comes home this Friday to play the first home game of the season.
UNM junior Andrew Boyens said the two wins coupled with the two wins the weekend before are a perfect beginning to the season.
"It just builds our confidence," he said. "On the road you're very tired, sleeping in a bed that's not your own. To win four games on the road is great."
Boyens scored the first goal against West Virginia 10 minutes into the first half, off of a corner kick from senior Lance Watson.
The central defender made a near-post run and headed the ball to the far post past Mountaineer goalkeeper Nick Noble.
West Virginia stayed within one goal until the 89th minute, when freshman Brandon Barklage dribbled past three Mountaineers and passed the ball to senior Cody Hanna. Hanna one-timed it across to senior Jeff Rowland, who put a diving header past Noble to seal the victory.
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein said his team's preparation is what makes it successful on the road.
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"We've prepared well," he said. "We take the attitude that playing on the road isn't more difficult."
Senior Brandon Moss said the team's start should bolster support for the team when it comes home this weekend.
"I think it's huge for our confidence going home with a 4-0 record," he said. "If you go in 3-1, the hype isn't there. So hopefully it'll get the people excited and to come out for this first weekend at home."
UNM gave up its first goals of the year Friday to the Bulls, but managed to pull out the win with goals from Rowland, Watson and freshman Jack Smithson.
Rowland's two goals on the weekend make him the leading scorer for the Lobos with five goals on the season.
He finished last season with 19 goals as the second-leading scorer in the country. He was also named National Player of the Week by CollegeSoccerNews.com after last weekend, in which he scored all three of the Lobos' goals against Penn State and Ohio State.
UNM scored first against the Bulls when Watson bent a corner kick in past Bulls' goalkeeper Dane Brenner.
The Bulls evened the score at 1-1 off a Jordan Seabrook shot, but UNM came back when Rowland scored off a Boyens' pass.
Smithson's goal came in the 85th minute when he put a shot from the right side of the box, past Brenner for his first collegiate goal.
UNM conceded the Bulls' last goal with one second on the clock when Josh Brown committed a foul in the box and gave away a penalty kick.
Rowland said UNM still has some work to do, even though the team improved this weekend.
"We played a lot better," he said. "We generated a lot more chances through the midfield, but there's always work to be done. We need to be able to string it together for 90 minutes."
