by Steven Fernandez
Daily Lobo
The UNM men's soccer team couldn't put away a couple of key opportunities and lost 1-0 to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
The Lobos had yet another successful regular season, winning their fourth straight conference championship. However, they were not selected to play a home game in the NCAAs and instead traveled to Los Angeles for the first-round match.
UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said the team played well, but playing at UCLA proved to be tough for the Lobos.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
"I think the disappointing thing is that we put ourselves in a situation where we had to play on the road," he said. "We slipped up more than we should have during the regular season. Playing on the road in the NCAA Tournament is a tough task."
The UNM defense kept the Bruins at bay for most of the game, but UCLA broke through with the game-winner in the 89th minute.
The Bruins' Kyle Nakazawa was fouled in the closing moments and was awarded a free kick which went past UNM goalkeeper Mike
Graczyk with less than two minutes remaining.
"I thought we played pretty well," Fishbein said. "UCLA played better in the first half. Second half, we had more chances. We created four opportunities where we should have scored goals, and we didn't. We made a mistake in the last couple minutes, and we paid for it."
UNM finished the season with a 12-5-2 record and was the sixth team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in the last seven seasons. This was the first of those teams to be knocked out in the first round.
The Lobos will say goodbye to arguably the most successful senior class in program history. Graczyk, Diego Barrera, Blake Danaher, Joey Vitagliano and David Gualdarama make up the first senior class to go to the NCAA Tournament four years in a row.
"That sums it up," Fishbein said. "They went to four straight NCAA Championships. I'm real proud of the guys. I'm just sad for them. This is a team that could have made the Final Four."
Even with the loss of the five seniors - including Graczyk, who set the school record in shutouts - Fishbein said he anticipates next year's team to be just as competitive.
He said he plans on competing for a national championship with next year's squad.
And even though he has already begun preparing for next year, Saturday's loss isn't an easy one to get over, Fishbein said.
"We'll be very good next year," he said. "We're still talented. But this is a tough one to lose. This a very good team. We had a great group of guys."
