There is no doubt about who is the trigger man for the UNM men’s soccer team: Justin Davis.
And he’s not gun-shy.
The senior forward is coming into his final season with a chance to make it into the Lobo record books. Davis, who has 40 career points, has racked up 14 career goals and 12 assists — a goal counts for two points when it comes to record-keeping — and still has a season left to pad his stats. Davis could also etch his name on Lobo soccer’s top-10 all-time list in almost every offensive category.
He needs five goals, two assists and eight points to break into the top 10 in each category — goals, assists and points.
In Saturday’s loss to San Francisco University, Davis took a team-high five shots, none of which found the back of the net.
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein said that Davis’ shots will come. The important thing is that he is looking for them.
“The hard thing to teach is for people to put themselves in good situations, and he is a guy who scores goals,” he said. “I think he probably just put a lot of pressure on himself, and he was a bit unlucky tonight, and I’m sure next time he’ll find the goal.”
For better or worse, Davis wears his emotions on his sleeve, and on Saturday, he showed clear signs of frustration. He kicked the wall twice after botched shots.
“That was anger with myself, not with the team,” he said. “I probably should internalize it a little bit more, but the atmosphere here kind of brought it out.”
Former forward Chris Wright, who played with Davis for three years and occasionally does soccer commentary for GoLobos.com, remembers Davis’ passion above all his other qualities.
“I think he definitely has a lot of fire when he plays,” Wright said. “He always gets sucked in on the tackles. He plays with a lot of energy and uses his physical gifts to his advantage.”
Davis did his best to mask his cagey side in a post-game interview, remaining stoic after the Lobos endured a stinging 1-0 loss to San Francisco.
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“It is something we are used to,” he said. “We have lost openers before. We can’t dwell on it.”
If Davis can convert his anger into energy for the Lobos, Wright said UNM will be a dangerous team this season.
“He was always a physical presence and a guy who worked extremely hard on both sides of the ball — always giving his full effort,” Wright said. “A lot of that determination and that grit led to a lot of his success.”
