Aug. 16, 2004
2004 Men’s Soccer Ticket Information
When Jeremy Fishbein took over as the head coach of the University of New Mexico men’s soccer team in July of 2002, he made it clear that he wanted the Lobos to become one of the top soccer programs in the country. In his first season, he took UNM to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history and posted the program’s best record of 18-4-0. The Lobos also won the school’s first ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season championship and second MPSF Tournament championship. Last season, Fishbein put together the toughest schedule the Lobos have ever played and finished one game short of returning to the NCAA Tournament with an 8-9-3 record and a second-place finish in the MPSF.
The Lobos’ drop in overall record might suggest that the program took a step back from Fishbein’s first season to his second. However, the 2004 team is gaining so much preseason recognition that it is clear that Fishbein has the program moving closer and closer to national prominence.
For the second-straight year the Lobos are ranked in the preseason. New Mexico will start the year at No. 28 in the CollegeSoccerNews.com preseason Top-30 poll. CollegeSoccerNews.com has also ranked the Lobos’ 2004 recruiting class as the 15th best in the NCAA. Fishbein and the Lobos have worked hard this off-season to make sure that they finish with a better ranking than they start in 2004. With nine starters returning and a highly-touted group of newcomers, the Lobos certainly have the talent to accomplish that goal.
“We are very excited about the season,” stated Fishbein. “The returning guys are healthy, in great shape and they are coming off an excellent spring season. The incoming players are going to be able to make an immediate contribution, but it is up to the returners to be leaders on the team.”
Jeremy Fishbein has posted a 26-13-3 record in two years at UNM. |
Leading the group of returning players is veteran goalkeeper Andrew Weber, who was a second team All-MPSF player in 2003. A senior from Phoenix, Ariz., Weber has started all 63 games of his Lobo career and has played over 98% of the keeper minutes for New Mexico the last three seasons. Weber is already UNM’s career leader in shutouts with 16 and will challenge every school goalkeeper record in the book. He also has an offensive side to his game with one career goal and two career assists. “Weber is coming back and he has been our starter for the past three years,” stated Fishbein. “He was an all-region team member as a sophomore and has twice been on the All-MPSF team. He is coming off a great summer and we expect big things from him during his senior season.”
Another of the Lobos’ top returners is junior Brandon Moss. Moss (2A) has played his first two seasons as a defender, but could move to the midfield this year. He played the central midfield position during the spring and was very successful. Regardless of where he plays, Moss will certainly have an impact. He was a first team All-MPSF and second team All-Far West Region selection in 2003 and should be one of the top players in the West in 2004.
The Lobos’ offensive attack returns its top three scorers from 2003 in juniors Ben Ashwill, Lance Watson and Jeff Rowland. Rowland (7G, 3A) led the team in scoring last season, while Watson (7G, 1A) tied for the team lead in goals. Watson is a two-time All-MPSF selection and was an all-region pick as a freshman. Ashwill (6G, 1A) is also a two-time all-league performer and is currently ranked eighth on the Lobos all-time goals scored list with 18. All three honed their skills together this summer while playing for the Indiana Invaders of the Premier Development League. Rowland was very impressive, scoring 18 goals and recording seven assists to finish fifth in the PDL in scoring and earn a spot on the All-Central Conference team.
The Lobos could see some adjustments in their defense from last season, but junior Matt Wootton (3A), a returning starter, will still be a factor in the backline. Senior Jeff Krause (3A), who started 19 games last season, could move into the center midfield spot, switching places with junior midfielder Ricky Francis (1G, 2A), another returning starter from last season.
“We moved Francis to the defense last spring and he did a tremendous job for us as a center-back,” stated Fishbein. “He is a two-year starter with a lot of experience and we expect him to play both as a defender and in our midfield. Krause and Wootton did an excellent job for us last year and we expect that to continue. We played Ashwill in the defense last spring and that created a lot of dangerous scoring opportunities from the back.”
Senior Pat Grange has scored more collegiate goals (20) than any other Lobo on the 2004 squad. |
Also returning is a pair of very experienced seniors in Patrick Grange (4G, 1A) and Eric Carlson (1A). Both saw action in every game last season with Grange earning a spot on the MPSF All-Tournament team. Grange’s 20 career collegiate goals show that he is a formidable offensive threat.
Rounding out the returning players are senior Jeremy Brown, juniors Erik Bagwell (1g, 1A), Ryan McVay (1A) and Jonathan Weaver, and sophomore Ben Gantenbein. Brown joins Weber as the only three-year letter winners on the team, while McVay and Bagwell return with a great deal of playing experience from last year. Weaver and Gantenbein will both add depth and can play any position on the field.
“Carlson can play outside for us and be effective, and Grange is healthy and ready to produce from the forward position,” stated Fishbein. “Bagwell, McVay, Brown and Gantenbein will all be competing for playing time at midfield, while Weaver could see action at forward.”
Also returning in 2004 is freshman Mike Grayczk. Grayczk was a red shirt in 2003, backing up Weber at the keeper position. He suited up and traveled to every game, gaining valuable experience despite not getting on the field. He will again be a solid backup to Weber this season.
The Lobos 15th-ranked recruiting class includes 10 newcomers to the 2004 team. Freshman Ryon Aguirre from Centennial, Colo., will provide depth at the keeper position, while the Lobo defense will get a big boost from newcomers Andrew Boyens and Charalambos Rossides. Rossides comes to UNM from Nicosia, Cyprus, and will be a freshman in 2004. Boyens, the 2003 New Zealand Player of the Year, transferred to UNM from Otago University in Dunedin, New Zealand, and is expected to make an immediate impact as a sophomore. He just missed qualifying for the 2004 Olympics on New Zealand’s U-23 team, and was recently called up to their full National Team, the New Zealand All-Whites. Mike Porter, a freshman from Las Cruces, N.M., will also provide depth to the Lobo backline.
Fighting for playing time at the midfield positions will be junior transfer Cody Hanna and freshmen David Gualdarama, German Gomez and Joey Vitagliano. Hanna, an Albuquerque native, transferred to UNM from Southern Methodist and will be a valuable addition to the Lobos. Gualdarama, from Waianae, Hawaii, spent the summer leading his Honolulu Bulls club team to the U-19 U.S. Youth Soccer Association national championship. Vitagliano comes to UNM from Scottsdale, Ariz. He led his Serrano Club team to second place finish in the U-18 U.S.Y.S.A. national championships this summer. Vitagliano is the youngest of four brothers, all of whom have played Division I soccer. Gomez is another newcomer with international playing experience. He grew up in Colombia and played for the America de Cali professional football club before moving to Houston, Texas, four years ago.
Junior Brandon Moss was a 2nd Team All-Far West Region player in 2003. |
The Lobos have also brought in a pair of very talented forwards in senior Hans Bevers and freshman Blake Danaher. Bevers transferred to UNM from the University of Antwerp in Antwerp, Belgium. He has played on club teams in both the Netherlands and Belgium First Divisions and brings in a wealth of high-level international experience. Danaher was the Texas Gatorade Player of the Year last season and will also have an immediate impact on the offensive side of the field.
Fishbein has not only orchestrated success for the Lobos on the field, but he has also guided his players to unprecedented success in the classroom. Last season, nine Lobos earned a spot on the Academic All-MPSF team while six were named to the academic all-district team. Both of those accomplishments are school records. The Lobo men’s soccer team posted a 3.31 grade-point-average in the spring of 2004, the highest mark for a semester in team history. Adding to this list of scholarly accomplishments was Ashwill’s second team Academic All-American award, the sixth such award in school history and the first since Jason Hix in 1994.
Fishbein will continue the trend of playing the top teams in the country in 2004 with matches against five teams that went to the NCAA Tournament last season. The Lobos open the season on the road in a tournament at Virginia Commonwealth University. UNM will face Delaware on Friday, September 3, and No. 19 VCU on Sunday, September 5. The Lobos travel to Northridge, Calif., to face postseason participants Loyola Marymount and Cal State Northridge on September 10 and 12. New Mexico opens its home schedule in the Adidas/Crescent Financial Solutions Invitational against Columbia on Saturday, September 18. The Lobos play a highly anticipated match against No. 1 Indiana, the defending NCAA champions, on Sunday, September 19. The MPSF schedule has been adjusted to include a double round-robin format, eliminating the conference tournament. The MPSF schedule will include home-and-home matches against Air Force, Denver, UNLV, Sacramento State, San Diego State and defending conference champion San Jose State. The winner of the MPSF regular season will earn the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The 2004 Lobo men’s soccer team will mix valuable experience and talented youth to produce what could be the most exciting team in school history. If all of the pieces come together, Fishbein could reach his goal of making Lobo soccer one of the top programs in the country in just his third year as head coach.