Lobos on the road despite No. 8 rank

by Steven Fernandez

Daily Lobo

The UNM men's soccer team finished the season 13-3-3, is ranked No. 8 in the nation and won the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title Sunday.

Still, that wasn't good enough for the seeding committee to give the Lobos a top-16 seed so they could have a home game for this year's NCAA Tournament.

While UNM wanted to get a first-round bye and a home game to start the tournament, there is nothing the team can do about it now, said head coach Jeremy Fishbein.

"It's water under the bridge right now," he said. "Our focus is on (Friday) night's game. We think we're a very good team, and if we play to our potential, we're hard to beat."

The Lobos travel to California to play San Francisco in Friday night's first-round game.

San Francisco finished the season 12-6-1 overall and 7-5-0 in the West Coast Conference.

Fishbein said beating San Francisco will be a tough task.

"They're a quality team," he said. "It's a veteran team that plays physical. They have a couple extremely good players, and they're real confident at home. So, we've got a challenge ahead of us."

UNM midfielder and defender Mike Porter said the team is anxious to get on the field.

"I think everyone's excited at this point, and we're all expecting a win," he said. "It should be a good weekend."

Last season, UNM played its first three NCAA Tournament games at home on its way to an appearance in the finals of the College Cup.

While a similar run this season would have to be done on the road, Fishbein said his players are up to the challenge.

"They're very prepared," he said. "They're ready to go."

Porter said traveling may actually work in UNM's favor.

"Sometimes, when you're on the road, it's almost more of an advantage because you don't really have any distractions that you have at home," he said. "You're just focusing on the game."

After starting the season 2-2-2, the Lobos have been on a tear lately. They have gone 11-1-1 in their past 13 games, while giving up an average of 0.55 goals per game, which is sixth best in the nation.

UNM is also riding momentum from last weekend after downing No. 21 Denver 3-0 to clinch the MPSF title.

Fishbein said he's happy with the way the team is playing heading into the tournament.

"I'm confident we're going to play well," he said. "We're going to be a tough team to beat."

If the Lobos play like they are capable of, they should move on to the next round, Porter said.

"I think that as long as everyone plays up to their potential, we'll get away with a win," he said.

The Lobos are 6-3-2 all time in NCAA Tournament games. Under Fishbein, the Lobos are 39-1-2 when leading at halftime, so getting out to an early lead is going to be key.

Fishbein said he is just happy to have the team back in the tournament.

"I think the team's ready to play," he said. "It's going to be a great game tomorrow night."