After an opening night 2-1 loss to No.11 Washington, the Lobos look to rebound against the Seattle Redhawks (1-0-0) on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Seattle. The Redhawks also opened their season last Friday with a 1-0 win over Loyola Marymount, a win which extended the longest active home winning streak in Division I soccer to 17 games. The Redhawks are lead by coach Pete Fewing, who is in his second stint as a Redhawks coach and lead the team to their first-ever Sweet 16 appearance in 2015.
The Redhawks are lead by senior midfielder Alex Roldan and junior defender Nathan Aune. Roldan is a First Team All-WAC selection coming off a breakout season when he lead the team with eight goals. Six of his goals were game winners, which was good for fourth in the nation. Aune was named the WAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year, who helped the team allow just one goal per game last season. For his efforts he was named to the All-WAC Second Team for the second time in his career. The Redhawks also return Sergio Rivas, a midfielder who earned First Team All-WAC last season. In 2016 Seattle went 11-6-2 but failed to qualify for postseason play beyond the WAC Tournament.
Coming into the game, Lobos coach Jeremy Fishbein is looking to secure his 200th win leading New Mexico. Already the coach with the most wins in program history, Fishbein is only six wins away from a career milestone of 300 wins. Despite the loss to Washington, Fishbein liked what he saw from his team.
“We went into the half down a goal, and I think we really got the better of the second half,” Fishbein said in a release. “We gave up a disappointing second goal, and at that point, we made a change. We went three in the back (instead of four), got a goal back and kept pushing. We had some serious chances to tie the game but couldn’t quite make it.”
In order to beat Seattle, the Lobos will have to improve on generating shots on goal. Against the Huskies, the team only put one of their eight shots on target, scoring on their only opportunity on frame.
The Lobos’ defense will also have to contain Alex Roldan and the rest of the Seattle attack, a task that will fall on the shoulders of Aaron Herrera and Tom Smart, as well as goalie Jason Beaulieu. Loyola Marymount allowed 19 shots, nine of which were on target, a mistake that the Lobos can’t afford to repeat.
The game can be watched live on the WAC Digital Network. Live stats will also be provided through statbroadcast.com. Following the game with Seattle, the Lobos will return home for their home opener against UNLV on Friday, Sept. 1.
Cameron Goeldner is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer but also contributes to baseball, football, basketball and track and field reporting. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
