The New Mexico men’s soccer team has some ground to make up in the Conference USA standings.
UNM (9-3-1, 2-2-0 CUSA) sits in sixth place and will get an opportunity to move up when its hosts fourth-place Old Dominion (7-4-1, 2-1-1) on Saturday at the UNM Soccer Complex.
The Lobos have just four conference games remaining in the season and are five points behind first-place Kentucky (8-3-3, 3-0-2).
“We just need to identify the areas we need to work on and stay confident,” head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “We have to move forward. We have to come out strong.”
Old Dominion is coming into Albuquerque having won back-to-back games. One of those wins was a 2-1 victory against then fourth-ranked Charlotte.
The match was evenly balanced with both teams recording nine shots and five shots on goal.
There were no goals during the first half, but more action was seen after intermission. Just 58 seconds into the second half, sophomore Jesse Miralrio put the Monarchs in the lead. Charlotte tied 20 minutes later with a goal by Kyle Parker.
The match came down to a penalty kick with less than eight minutes remaining. Ryan Condotta scored the victory goal for Old Dominion.
The Monarchs then went on to win 1-0 at William and Mary. Old Dominion’s Tyler Edwards scored the game-winner in the 57th minute.
As for the Lobos, they’re coming off a 1-0 defeat at Kentucky.
Fishbein made no excuses and said his team came out flat in the first 45 minutes of the match. The Wildcats scored the only goal of the match from a play in the box during the 31st minute.
“You have to kind of be careful. Did you lose because you lost to a good team or did you not play well? It was a game we shouldn’t have lost,” Fishbein said.
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Fishbein admitted the Kentucky goal was a good one, but said it was his own team’s inadequate first half that cost Lobos the entire game.
“We were really disappointed in the first half, but we made some adjustments at halftime,” Fishbein said. “The guys played with more passion, like they wanted to be there. We did some really good things in the second half but couldn’t find the equalizing goal.”
Although still disappointed about last week’s match, Fishbein said he has confidence in his players’ abilities and is excited to come out strong Saturday.
“A lot of it is just a mental thing,” Fishbein said. “Our challenge is to learn from our shortcomings. I feel that we will be better on Saturday.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached atsports@dailylobo.comor on Twitter @cisabelg.
Men’s soccer vs. Old Dominion
Saturday, 7 p.m.
UNM Soccer Complex
