As Lobo football prepares to face powerhouse Texas Tech on Saturday it isn’t the only UNM team gearing up to play a ranked opponent on national television.
The No. 16 ranked UNM men’s soccer team faces No. 4 Akron tonight in Akron, Ohio, on national television on the Fox Soccer Channel at 5 p.m.
“We are good, and our expectations are to go there and win,” head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “In my mind we are the favorite. We are going there to win this game.”
This is the first week the Lobos have been ranked in the top 25 after jumping from No. 38 to No. 16 in this week’s college soccer polls.
UNM boasts an undefeated 4-0-1 record, and they have already scored 12 goals and only conceded two in the first five games.
Fishbein said team members are ready to test themselves against the best opponent they have played this season and expects upward of 7,000 fans at the game.
“It’s going to be an outstanding atmosphere,” he said. “We came off a great weekend at home, and we are really looking forward to get on the road and test ourselves on Friday night against a real quality team,”
Akron has competed for the last two national championships, and after losing to Virginia in the final in 2009, it made it back to the final last year beating Louisville for its first national championship.
Like the Lobos, the Zips have yet to lose this season with a 3-0-1 record and have the same goal differential as the Lobos, scoring 11 and giving up just one.
Both the Lobos and the Zips defeated Cal. State Northridge by 3-1 and 2-1, respectively.
Lobo senior midfielder Michael Green said that the team is ready for its chance to play in the national spotlight.
“We are playing a top-five team on national television, and I don’t think any of us have ever done that,” he said. “I think we are more prepared than ever for it. We don’t see ourselves as underdogs in this game.”
The game is especially important for Green because he grew up just miles away from Akron’s campus.
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He said that playing against the team he grew up watching is going to be a strange feeling.
“Weird would be the word I would use,” he said. “I watched Akron play growing up, and it’s definitely going to be a weird feeling playing against them.”
The senior said this will be the last chance for many of his friends and family to see him play in the Lobo jersey. He expects there to be a few people in the large crowd that will be rooting for the Lobos.
“I can’t even really put it in words,” Green said. “It’s a great feeling; I have been talking to friends and family about it, and they are all going to be at the game. I am excited for them and just ready to stick it to Akron this weekend.”
