The last three games were anything but a cakewalk for the UNM men's soccer team, and the schedule doesn't get any easier with No. 10 UCLA next on the list.Thankfully for the No. 15 UNM Lobos (1-1-1), they will finally have the opportunity to play with the fans behind them.UNM plays its home opener Friday night against UCLA (0-2-1) with "Stuff the Stadium" night. The Lobos are coming off a 3-0 victory against Michigan.UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said Friday's game is important for his team."It's a big game because it's a quality opponent,"
he said. "We've been playing well, and we want to see our best."Though the Lobos have one win, Fishbein said he is happy with how the team has played this season. Behind goalkeeper Mike Graczyk and the defense, UNM has only allowed one goal all season, in a 1-0 loss to Michigan State. However,
in the first two games, the Lobo offense failed to score a goal.Fishbein said he expects the offense to be more productive from now on."I think we're playing with a little more confidence," he said. "We know we can put balls in the net, and I think we're playing real well right now."Graczyk said the win against Michigan went a long way toward boosting the team's morale."It's always good to get that first win under the belt," Graczyk said. "To get a quality win over a quality team definitely helps our confidence coming into this game."In the first three games, the team was playing
well as a whole, but things were just not going the Lobos' way, Graczyk said. "That's the way soccer is. It's probably the one sport where you can dominate a game and not get the result you want," he said. "With the young team we have, the results will come. It's just a matter of putting things together." UCLA also had a tough opening schedule, as it tied No. 19 Cal State Northridge and lost to No. 1 Maryland and No. 3 Virginia. Despite the record, UCLA is still a dangerous team, Fishbein said."They're going to be ready to go," he said. "This is a huge game for them. They know they're coming into a tough environment, so we're going to see their best - that's for sure."Graczyk said playing against UCLA has always been his dream."It's a powerhouse program," he said. "Growing up as a kid, you watch UCLA on TV and you wonder what it's like to play with or against a team like UCLA."Fishbein said he wants the team to be aggressive
against UCLA by putting pressure on defense and attacking on offense."It's going to be important that we come out strong from the beginning and get rid of any jitters," Fishbein said. "We're playing at home for the first time with a big crowd, but we're excited, and you want to play the best. And UCLA's the best, so there's no better way to test yourself."Despite UNM falling from No. 9 in the CollegeSoccerNews.com preseason poll to No. 15, Fishbein said he is not concerned with rankings or where UNM will stand after the game against UCLA."We have a lot of games ahead of us," he said. "We're just excited for the challenge of this game."Graczyk said he's happy to be back playing at home and wants the fans to make their presence felt."It feels real good to finally come back and play in front of the fans we have," he said. "It's exciting. Hopefully we can draw a pretty big crowd."
