Following a 3-0 win over the UNLV Rebels, the New Mexico Men’s Soccer Team (1-2-0) will look to pick up its second win of the season — this time, against the Marquette Golden Eagles in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The game starts at 6:05 p.m. on Monday and can be watched through a stream available at golobos.com.
The Golden Eagles (0-1-1) are coming off of a 2-2 tie with UIC on Friday night. Marquette is lead by sophomore midfielder Luka Prpa, who was named to the Preseason All-Big East squad. Last season, Prpa scored 10 goals and recorded six assists and totaled 26 points en route to being named the Big East Freshman of the Year. Last year, the team went 5-7-4 (2-5-2 Big East) and tied for eighth in the Big East.
Lobos head coach Jeremy Fishbein described Marquette as a disciplined opponent who will provide the Lobos with a very good test. Marquette is a fairly young team, which debuted six players new to the program when it opened the season against Kentucky. The Golden Eagles are coached by Louis Bennett, who is in his 12th season at Marquette and holds a 73-97-31 all time record. Under his guidance, the program has made two appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
With the Lobos' win against UNLV last friday, Fishbein achieved his 200th win at UNM and the 295th of his career. Fishbein has led the Lobo pack for 16 seasons. The team jump started some of the offensive woes that have plagued them so far this season against 10-man UNLV Friday night. The team produced 12 shots, seven of which were on target en route to scoring two goals from the run of play and one off of a penalty.
Despite the strong results, Fishbein felt that the team still made too many errors that would come back to punish them against stronger teams, something that the team will need to work on if it’s going to be successful this season.
Marquette has shown the ability to generate lots of shots but has had difficulty converting them. On Friday, the team had 23 shots against UIC but was only able to come away with two goals. The Lobos allowed UNLV 10 shots despite their man advantage, as the Rebels were able to cut through the Lobos defense and get on goal. Combined, these factors could lead to trouble for UNM.
Marquette has a New Mexico connection in junior goalkeeper Luis Barraza, a native of Santa Teresa, a small town in the Las Cruces area.
In order for the Lobos to win, they’ll need to show that they can maintain the strong offensive performance they put in against UNLV against a full strength side. They will also need to do a better job defensively, as Friday’s defensive effort won’t be enough to keep a full strength team off of the board.
Following their matchup with Marquette, the Lobos will come home to host the Grange and Ashwill Invitational, which will feature UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge and the University of Denver. The Lobos will match up with Northridge on Sep. 8, and UC Irvine two days later.
Cameron Goeldner is a freelance sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He primarily covers men’s soccer, but also contributes content for baseball, basketball, football and track and field. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @goeldfinger.
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