Who says inexperienced players can’t win?
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein hopes to take the wealth of fresh talent he brought in this season past the first round of the NCAA tournament, where the team has fallen for the past two years.
“We are really excited about this season,” Fishbein said. “The guys all worked hard over the summer and they are really prepared right now. We have some new guys that are going to make some big contributions as well this year.”
Michael Green and Lance Rozeboom are the only two seniors on the roster, and with just five juniors on the team, freshmen make up the core of this year’s group.
Fishbein said all of the new recruits are gelling with the team, and that Green and Rozeboom have the leadership skills to carry them.
“They are fitting in really well,” he said. “They are a really good group and we have really good senior leadership and a great group of returning players.”
Two of the most notable freshmen are Adrian Mora Delgado from Costa Rica and Mathew Gibbons from New Zealand.
Both players represented their countries at the 2009 U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, where the two nations faced each other in a group play match that ended in a 1-1 tie.
Delgado and Gibbons’ international experience could pay huge dividends as they look to anchor the back line of the Lobos.
Other notable freshmen are homegrown players Nick Miele, Joshua Dye and Casey Phillips.
Freshmen could make up the team’s entire defense, with Miele and Phillips both playing in the back.
Junior Blake Smith said that even with the experience Delgado and Gibbons bring to the team, no one freshman really stands out as more talented than the rest.
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“I think all of them are performing to the standard,” Smith said. “We have all looked good so far this preseason and there are a few international players that are looking good as well. We should have a pretty good season.”
UNM will face Grand Canyon University this Thursday and Tulsa on Saturday in exhibitions. The regular season opens on Aug. 26 at home against Towson University.
The young team may be not be fully prepared for the fast pace of college-level soccer just yet, but Fishbein feels that these preseason games could help his young players gain the experience they need.
“Every game is important,” he said. “I think we have a lot of good players, and it gives us an opportunity to see how combinations of players work well together and get the young guys some real valuable game experience.”
Men’s Soccer vs. Grand Canyon
Thursday
7 p.m.
University Stadium
