by Riley Bauling
Daily Lobo
Jeremy Fishbein has seen only one loss at home in his four years as head coach of the UNM men's soccer team.
That's because he wasn't there Sunday for the Lobos' 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose State University Spartans.
Fishbein missed UNM's game because he was tending to a family illness in Cincinnati.
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Had he been there, he would have seen the No. 2-ranked Lobos' second loss at home in almost two years. The last time UNM lost on its home field was Oct. 18, 2003, against the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.
In Fishbein's absence, assistant coaches Jamie Clark and Carl Junot took over.
The Lobos scored first when senior captain and center midfielder Brandon Moss put in a rebound that came from center defender Andrew Boyens' shot off the post from 25 yards out in the 49th minute.
Boyens followed his assist with a penalty kick in the 55th minute, but not before Spartan Dan Oka scored on a free kick from six yards outside of the penalty box in the 54th minute.
Spartan Dylan Pender scored four minutes later on a header to tie the game and send it to overtime. Nelson Diaz sealed the deal for San Jose State in the 98th minute on a breakaway Lobo goalkeeper Mike Graczyk couldn't keep out of the net.
The loss was more of a shock than anything. Clark said it's hard to remember what losing a game is like.
"We've lost two games in four years at home now, and two games in two years period. You forget how it feels to lose. You realize you're not invincible," he said.
The Lobos couldn't keep donning their Superman capes and dodging bullets for much longer, Clark said.
"You keep going into these overtime games and we put ourselves in a position where it's tight, you're going to lose games," he said.
UNM took overtime to beat Sacramento State University 1-0 in the 96th minute on Friday.
Last Friday, the Lobos tied Air Force 0-0 after failing to score for the first time in 36 games.
Moss also said the Lobos' invincibility cloak had to come off sooner or later, too.
"Maybe it's a dose of reality," he said. "We've been getting hyped up this whole season. You know, No. 1, the best team, undefeated, this and that. I suppose it would be a lie to say it didn't go to our heads."
Moss said he had his fingers crossed that the tie against Air Force could have been the reality check UNM needed.
"I'd like to think Air Force was a blessing in disguise," he said. "Then you learn something without having to lose."
The loss hurts the Lobos even more because of what it does to the Lobos' standing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. UNM is now 10-1-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the MPSF, while the Spartans are 7-3-2 and 3-0-0 in conference.
"The reality is, if they win out, they're conference champions," Moss said. "Even if we beat them and they win out, they're still conference champions. I think we got a little caught up in thinking about the (NCAA) tournament prematurely."
