If there ever existed a must-win game, this weekend has a full slate of them for the UNM men’s soccer team.
The third-seeded Lobos open the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament against UNLV Thursday, a team they beat twice this season — most recently in a 3-2 win in the last regular-season game. If they win, the Lobos will play Cal State Bakersfield, a team they tied earlier in the season.
“This is what we train the whole season for,” forward Devon Sandoval said. “Everything our season has led up to is taking care of business in this tournament, and I think we are capable of doing that.”
Last time around, UNM found itself down 2-0 to UNLV, but then exploded offensively in the second half, scoring three goals in a seven-minute span. Before that seven-minute stretch, the Lobos were held scoreless for three straight games.
“It’s an interesting situation to be in playing the same team back-to-back, but I feel good with our performance in the second half,” head Coach Jeremy Fishbein said.
Picked to win the MPSF in the preseason coaches poll, the Lobos didn’t live up to expectations and fell behind Denver and Cal State Bakersfield.
UNM started conference play poorly and lost two of its first three home games. The Lobos battled back with a seven-game unbeaten streak to carry them to third place in the MPSF.
“I guess it’s funny to hear them say we clinched the third seed,” Fishbein said. “We are clearly never playing for third place. We expected to win the conference, and we expect to win the conference tournament, and we are excited to get going.”
If the Lobos fail to win the conference tournament, they’ll be in danger of not making the NCAA tournament despite making it four of the past five years.
Sandoval said not making the NCAA tournament isn’t an option.
“We know we have to win this game or else our season is over,” he said. “We are really confident, and coming back from that goal drought really showed the character of our team.”
The two top-seeded teams have an automatic bye and won’t play until the semifinals, so to claim the MPSF, the Lobos must win three games in four days.
“The biggest challenge is when you don’t have a bye, it’s more of a physical and mental nature,” Fishbein said. “It’s quite a feat to win three games in four days physically when the top two seeds have to win two games in three days.”
Defense will be key to winning the tournament, Fishbein said, since the Lobos shut out seven of their 10 conference opponents.
“Tactically, we have to be good, and we can’t allow them opportunities in transition, and we can’t give them a lot of space, and our attacking guys have to finish our chances,” Fishbein said.
BOX
Men’s soccer vs. UNLV
Thursday, 12 p.m.
Sacramento, Calif.
