The Lobos seem to be flourishing this spring.
Four matches against four different opponents and the UNM men’s soccer team has yet to walk away with a loss.
UNM kicked off its exhibition season in Las Vegas with two wins on April 2. That morning, the Lobos faced Utah Valley, a top 20 team, and notched a 1-0 win on a lone goal by senior forward Niko Hansen in the 66th minute.
That night, the Lobos took down UNLV in a match that showcased the team’s offense.
Hansen, Luke Lawrence, Lucas Seligman and Devin Boyce each scored goals to get their team a 4-2 victory over the Rebels.
This past Saturday, the Lobos traveled to Denver to battle their next two opponents.
In the morning, the Lobos played a 45-minute match against the Colorado School of Mines. UNM got the 2-1 win thanks to a goal from Chris Wehan on the 37th minute and a goal from Aaron Herrera in the 42nd minute.
The Lobos got their second win of the day when they took down the Creighton Bluejays 3-0. Both the Lobo offense and defense stepped up during this game.
Freshman midfielder Boyce scored his second goal of the spring during the 41 minute. The Bluejay defense made a mistake in the 59th minute and an own goal gave the Lobos a 2-0 advantage. Hansen scored the third goal in the 71st minute.
That was Hansen’s third goal over the two weekends.
Hansen had some trouble finishing during the fall, but this spring, the senior forward looks more comfortable.
Fishbein said he is now putting Hansen in a wide role, which gives him more space to play. He also said that Lawrence has been good at taking the pressure off of Hansen.
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When it comes to the defense, the backline of Jason Beaulieu, Aaron Herrera, Nick Rochowski, Matt Constant and Lucas Seligman have now gone 180 minutes without conceding a goal.
Fishbein said his team was young in the fall, and that he is happy to see how much the players have matured in the past few months.
“Our biggest strength is team unity. We have a unified group of players who play for each other,” Fishbein said.
However, the success the Lobos are having this spring doesn’t necessarily mean the fall season will be a walk in the park.
“You have to be careful. Spring is a fool’s gold. The pressure is different from the fall season,” Fishbein said. “We are excited to move forward and keep improving. We want to prepare as much as we can for the fall.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
