The 2016 Conference USA Championship is just around the corner, and New Mexico men’s soccer hopes to make the most of the opportunity.
It’s a big deal for the Lobos, as their performance in the single-elimination contest could determine whether they go to the NCAA Tournament this year, which they’ve missed out on two years in a row.
The team is traveling to Huntington, West Virginia to compete. It will be a neutral site for all participants, since the host school, Marshall, finished last in the standings and failed to qualify.
Charlotte (12-2-2, 7-1-0 C-USA), the fifth-ranked team in the nation, finished as the top seed to earn its fourth C-USA regular season title and will receive a first-round bye.
The championship is scheduled to take place Wednesday through Sunday. No. 5 seed New Mexico (10-6-1, 4-3-1 C-USA) plays its first game of the competition on Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST against the No. 4 seed Kentucky Wildcats.
The winner of the match will go on to play Charlotte in Friday’s semifinal round at 4:30 p.m. EST. The championship game is scheduled for Sunday at 2 p.m. EST and will be broadcasted on ESPN3.
The Wildcats finished last year’s regular season on top of the C-USA standings with a 7-0-1 conference record. The Lobos finished as the No. 6 seed with a 2-4-2 conference record.
That same season, the Wildcats advanced to the semifinals before falling to eventual champion Florida International. The Lobos lost in the first round to South Carolina.
New Mexico and Kentucky met earlier this season during the Lobos’ C-USA opener, where the Wildcats managed a 1-0 victory over the Lobos at home.
But there was more to the match than the final score. New Mexico outshot Kentucky 12-6, led 8-3 in corner kicks and actually put two shots in the net, but both were taken away due to offside rulings. The loss ended a five-match winning streak for UNM.
The Wildcats went on to finish this regular season with an 11-4-2 overall record, and went 5-3 in conference.
As of Nov. 1, Kentucky was listed in the NSCAA Coaches Poll as No. 12. But that was before the South Carolina Gamecocks took down the Wildcats 2-1 three days later.
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The most recent NCAA update, which was on Oct. 31, shows Kentucky’s RPI as 13 and New Mexico’s RPI as 40. The latest ranking was posted after the Lobos came away with a 2-1 victory over the Gamecocks, but before they blanked Old Dominion 2-0 to end the regular season over the weekend.
It capped an 8-4-1 run to end the season for the Lobos after starting the campaign with back-to-back losses.
The Lobos went their last four matches without a loss, and their win against ODU was the team’s third straight win.
New Mexico was strong at home, where the Lobos finished undefeated 8-0-1. But the team has struggled in road matches, in which it sport a 2-6-0 mark.
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein said he is looking at the positives of the regular season and the team will try to use the momentum of its recent string of victories to be successful in the tourney.
“Great way to go into the conference tournament,” he said. “We are healthy, playing well, scoring goals, good on the defensive side of the ball. I’m just really proud of this team. We weathered a little hard spell, and now have three (wins) in a row. I’m proud of these guys, they are ready for the next one.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She mainly covers men’s soccer and basketball. She can be reached at sports @dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
