Lobos Resume C-USA Play at South Carolina Friday
New Mexico at South Carolina
Friday, Sept. 22 – 5 p.m. (MT)
Columbia, S.C. | Eugene E. Stone III Stadium (5,000)
LIVE VIDEO on WatchESPN | LIVE STATS | IN-MATCH UPDATES @UNMLoboMSoccer
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team is set to resume Conference USA play on Friday, Sept. 22 on the road against the South Carolina Gamecocks. After falling by a narrow score of 1-0 to No. 13 Kentucky at home on Saturday, the Lobos are seeking their first C-USA victory of the season.
The Lobos enter the match 4-3-0 on the season, 0-1 C-USA, while the Gamecocks are also 4-3-0 overall, but are 0-2 in league play.
Friday’s match will be available to watch live on WatchESPN. Live stats will also be available HERE.
Series Record vs. South Carolina
2-3-0
When South Carolina Ranked: 1-0-0
In Overtime: 0-2-0
Last Meeting: The Last time the Lobos faced the gamecocks, UNM upset the No. 25 ranked team in the nation at the UNM Soccer Complex. The Lobos claimed a 2-1 victory that clinched them a spot in the 2016 Conference USA Tournament.
The UNM victory over South Carolina last season also marked UNM’s first over a ranked team on the season. The Lobos followed with back-to-back victories over ranked opponents Kentucky and Charlotte in the tournament.
Conference Play
Both teams enter Friday’s contest winless in Conference USA play to this point in the season. The Lobos fell in their C-USA opener against No. 13 Kentucky on Saturday after an ill-fated penalty kick with just seconds left in the first half.
The Gamecocks are 0-2 in C-USA play after falling to Marshall on the road, 2-1, on Saturday. South Carolina opened conference play with a 2-1 overtime loss to FAU on Sept. 9.
Scouting South Carolina
The Gamecocks enter Friday’s match coming off of a 1-0 victory over No. 15 Furman on Tuesday night where they scored the gamewinner in the 49th minute, just four minutes after returning from the field out of the halftime break. South Carolina turned around it’s two-loss streak with the win and is now 2-3 in its last five matches.
The Gamecocks return four starters from a squad that advanced to the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Key returners include midfielders Bjorn Gudjonsson, Luca Mayr, Trygve Ellingstad and Julian Veen Uldal as well as defender Andre Streete and keeper William Pyle. Of the group, Mayr is the only one to register any points thus far in the season, he has tallied nine points on three goals and three assists.
Also leading the Gamecocks in the scoring category is freshman Justin Sukow who has posted seven points on three goals and one assist.
Last Time Out
The Lobos dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday at the UNM Soccer Complex, falling to No. 13 Kentucky by a score of 1-0. UNM led in nearly all statistical categories, including 15-7 in shots, 5-2 in shots on goal. The Lobos also posted eight corner kicks to just two for the Wildcats.
The lone goal of the game came off a penalty kick with two seconds left in the first half that resulted from a Lobo handball in the box. The teams battled in the second but neither team was able to score again.
The loss marked the end of a 14-game home unbeatean streak for the Lobos that dated back to October 27, 2015. It also marked the end of a four-game win streak that followed UNM’s opening pair of losses to kick off the season.
This is the second straight season that the Lobos have fallen to Kentucky in the Conference USA opener. Last season the Wildcats snapped a five-game win streak with the victory – before the Lobos claimed the win in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament to knock the Wildcats out of contention for the C-USA title.
Conference Leaders
The Lobos rank in the top five in seven offensive categories including total assists (3rd, 10), total goals (3rd, 12), scoring offense (4th, 1.71) and points per game (4th, 4.86).
Defensively, UNM is third in the league in save percentage (0.781) and fourth in saves per game (3.57).
Individually, Devin Boyce, Aaron Herrera and Jason Beaulieu lead the league in several categories. Beaulieu is second in minutes played (630) and total saves (24) while Herrera and Boyce are tied for second in assists (3) and fourth in assists per game (0.43). Junior Antoine Vial also ranks fourth in the league in total goals scored with three.
In Pursuit of 300
Lobo head coach Jeremy Fishbein surpassed 200 wins at UNM with the Lobos’ 3-0 victory over UNLV at the UNM Soccer Complex on Sept. 1. However, Fishbein is also nearing another big milestone. Following UNM’s wins over CSUN and UC Irvine, coach Fishbein now boasts 298 career victories. He is just two away from reaching the 300 bench mark in his outstanding career.
Fishbein is the program’s all-time winningest coach and entered the season ranked 17th in the nation among NCAA DI active head coaches.
Preseason Honors
The reigning C-USA Tournament Champion Lobos were picked to finish second in Conference USA behind Charlotte in 2017. In addition, sophomores Tom Smart and Matthew Constant were named to the C-USA Preseason Team.
As a team, the Lobos have been ranked in the preseason by two organizations. The United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll notched the Lobos 20th while Top Drawer Soccer ranked UNM 19th.
Junior Aaron Herrera also earned Top Drawer Soccer Best XI Second Team honors heading into the season.
It’s a Hard-Knock Schedule
The Lobos are no stranger to tough competition, but this season UNM will take on eight squads that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season including three C-USA opponents. Those teams include No. 11 Washington, (RV) UNLV, CSUN, No. 13/17 Kentucky, South Carolina, (RV)UCLA, (RV) Denver and (RV) Charlotte.*
*Note: Teams that have already been faced have locked in rankings, other are updated.
A Whole New Offense
After a successful run to the 2016 NCAA postseason, the Lobos lost five key seniors from the squad and a pair of dominating attackers including Niko Hansen and Chris Wehan. Hansen was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2017 MLS Superdraft to the Columbus Crew SC while Wehan has been racking up the accolades as a member of Reno 1868 FC, a USL team. The pair combined for 61.8 percent of the Lobos’ goals last season.
Offensively, the Lobos will need to replace the dynamic duo in the attacking third and have added 13 new players to the 2017 roster in effort to replenish the squad. Of UNM’s 20 points in exhibition matches this season, 10 came from new players. The other 10 came from a trio of returners (Aaron Herrera, Sam Gleadle and Luke Lawrence) and a redshirt freshman (Noah Bushey).
The newcomers that scored included freshman Nick Taylor, who led UNM with two goals, as well as freshman Alex Vedamanikam, junior transfer Antoine Vial and redshirt junior transfer Wedner Delmonte who posted one goal apiece.
Defensively, The Boys Are Back
While the Lobo offense will look very different, the UNM defense returns the majority of an experienced and solid back line that helped lead the Lobos to nine shutouts in 2016.
First, senior Jason Beaulieu returns between the posts. He started all 22 games for UNM in 2016 racking up 2,072 minutes. He posted eight shutouts which ranks seventh in Lobo history for most shutouts in a single season. Last season he also tied for ninth in UNM history in single-season wins (12). For his career, Beaulieu heads into the season ranking tied for third in shutouts with 17, sixth in saves with 163, seventh in wins with 26 and sixth in appearances with 51.
Junior Aaron Herrera will help anchor the back line for UNM after competing with the U-20 World Cup over the summer. He started all 22 games for the Lobos last season totaling 2,050 minutes and registering six points (two goals, two assists). In addition, Herrera was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Best XI Second Team recognizing him as one of the projected top players in the country this season.
Sophomores Tom Smart and Matthew Constant also return to the Lobo defense. The pair both started all season in 2016, Smart earning 22 starts and Constant starting 20 matches, missing two to play with the Canadian U-20 Team. Smart and Constant were also the only two Lobos to earn Conference USA Preseason honors.
Lobo Soccer: A Mile High and Louder Than …
The UNM Soccer Complex is building a reputation as one of the nation’s toughest venues to play in. In addition to being “a mile high and louder than…”, New Mexico has turned Albuquerque into one of the hottest tickets in college soccer. The Lobos have ranked in the top 25 in attendance nationally every season since the NCAA began keeping those statistics in 2001.
International Pride
While the diversity of the team roster is obvious, many Lobos have some serious international credentials. Five have represented their country in top-level international competition: Aaron Herrera (US U20); Matthew Constant (US U17 National team, Canada U20 National team); Billy Jones (captained New Zealand U17 in select World Cup qualifying matches); Aaron Scott (U15, U16, U17 Scottish National Team) and Ingi Jónsson (U17 Icelandic National Team).
Excelling Off the Pitch
Lobo Soccer has a rich tradition of academic success. During the Fishbein era (2002 to present), UNM has had 20 Academic All-Americans – more than any other men’s soccer program in the country among all divisions. In addition, the Lobos have garnered 91 Academic All-Conference honorees and 20 NSCAA Scholar All-Americans under Fishbein’s tutelage. As a team, the Lobos have earned the NSCAA Academic Team Award in 13 of the last 14 seasons.