The UNM Men’s Soccer team kicks off the season tonight on the road against the 11th-ranked Washington Huskies, the team that eliminated them from the NCAA Tournament last season.
The game is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network, with a stream option available through golobos.com.
New Mexico is coming off a perfect exhibition slate, going 3-0 with wins against Air Force, Colorado School of Mines and Grand Canyon.
The team went 12-7-3 last season, going unbeaten at home on the way to winning the Conference-USA Tournament and earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
This season, the Lobos are looking to keep up that strong play despite losing Niko Hansen and Chris Wehan, who accounted for 61.8 percent of the goals the team scored last season, a release said.
However, the majority of the defense is set to return and should be strong as ever. Goalkeeper Jason Beaulieu will be back to protect the net, looking to improve on a season that saw him post eight shutouts, seventh best in the program's history.
In addition to Beaulieu, Aaron Herrera, Tom Smart and Matthew Constant return to the Lobos' backline. Herrera was named to the second team of the topdrawersoccer.com Preseason Best XI, a list that attempts to project the best players in college soccer. In addition, Smart and Constant were awarded C-USA Team honors.
As for Washington, the Huskies are coming off a season that saw them reach the NCAA Round of 16 for the fourth time in program history. The accomplished the feat by knocking off the Lobos in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Washington will return 53 percent of its scoring offense, including All Pac-12 Honorees Kyle Coffee and Handwalla Bwana, the 2016 Freshman of the Year.
In Friday night's game, UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein will be going for his 200th win while at the helm for the Lobos, and the 295th victory of his career. Under his guidance, the Lobos have only missed the NCAA Tournament just four times in his 15 seasons as head coach.
Following their game with Washington, the Lobos will travel across town to take on the Seattle Redhawks of the Western Athletic Conference on Sunday at 7 p.m.
UNM last faced Seattle in 2012, when the Lobos claimed a 3-0 victory. New Mexico holds a 3-0-0 all-time record against the Redhawks.
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Seattle enters the season with the longest home winning streak in Division I at 16 consecutive games. It is led by All-WAC First Team selection Alex Roldan, who had eight goals last season. Also returning is Nathan Aune, who was named WAC Defensive Player of the Year, as well as being named to the All-WAC Second Team.
Cameron Goeldner is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He contributes to baseball, football, basketball and track and field reporting. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
