by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
Jeff Rowland's 19 goals last season and three goals in the first two games this year are giving the senior forward more attention than he anticipated.
Too bad it's also the type he didn't want.
The No. 6-ranked UNM men's soccer team beat No. 18-ranked Ohio State 1-0 Sunday and took down No. 23-ranked Penn State 2-0 on Friday in the Ohio State Classic.
Rowland scored all three goals for the Lobos, prompting opposing defenders to come up with creative ways to stop the senior forward's knack for finding the net.
"They want to hit me harder," he said. "I took a few hits. Some guy was actually asking me what ankle I hurt during the summer. You know, 'So what ankle's hurt? Because I'm going to step on it.'"
Senior captain Brandon Moss said teams are going to cozy up to Rowland in the games to come.
"You can't rely on him for the rest of the season because he's got a target on his back," Moss said. "People are going to start coming for him."
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein said defenses can throw mortar bombs at Rowland, and his role won't be changing much this season.
"Rowland's in the right place at the right time," he said. "When he's on the field, he's our go-to guy. I think he is going to score a lot of our goals this year."
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Against Ohio State, the Lobos couldn't finish the game during regulation time. It took Rowland six minutes into overtime when he put a header past Buckeye goalkeeper Ray Burse.
Lars Loeseth sent a cross in from the left side to the far post where Rowland was lurking.
Rowland, a Hermann Trophy candidate - the award given to the nation's best male soccer player - started the weekend off quickly against Penn State when he scored in the 24th minute off a pass from senior Matt Wootton.
Rowland sealed the Lobos' win in the 74th minute when he cradled a pass from senior Lance Watson, turned, and blasted a shot past Penn State goalkeeper Conrad Taylor for the 2-0 lead.
Fishbein said he was content with how the team played, but he would be happy with the offense spreading the scoring around more.
"It was a great weekend," he said. "Anytime you can beat two top-25 teams on the road, we have to be real happy about it. We played well defensively and we ground out two wins. That's great when you can get results without playing your best."
With five new starters this year, Moss said the Lobos should take a little bit longer to click offensively. But every other team is going through the same thing, he said.
"We're pretty solid defensively, but on the offensive side of things we're still trying to work out some problems," he said. "We can be a little more dynamic with our offense and how we are going to be attacking, not so predictable. Luckily, the defense is playing well enough."
Moss said winning games is the team's paramount objective.
"If Rowland scores 50 goals this year, I'd be totally fine with it," he said. "I don't care if it's me, Grazyck (the Lobos' goalkeeper), or the last guy on the bench, as long as we are scoring goals."
