Aug. 17, 2006
University of New Mexico men’s soccer coach Jeremy Fishbein will be inducted into the Fort Lewis College Athletic Hall of Fame, Saturday, Aug. 19, in Durango, Colo. Fishbein coached the Skyhawks from 1992-98, winning four conference titles during that stretch. The Lobos open the 2006 season with an exhibition match at Fort Lewis on Friday Aug. 18 at 4:00 p.m. (M.D.T.) in Durango, Colo.
“We have an exciting group of inductees into the Athletic Hall of Fame this year,” said Steve Miller, committee chariman. “It includes two very successful coaches and three outstanding athletes from four decades. A broad history of athletic and academic excellence is represented by this group.”
In seven seasons at Fort Lewis (1992-98), Fishbein’s teams posted a 74-47-7 record (.605) and won four league championships — two in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (1997, 1998) and two in the Colorado Athletic Conference (1993, 1995). He also guided the Skyhawks to their first two NCAA Division II playoff trips (1997, 1998).
“Coach Fishbein created something out of nothing at Fort Lewis College,” said Skyhawk men’s soccer coach Jeremy Gunn, who replaced Fishbein at Fort Lewis in 1999. “He created a tradition of excellence that set the standard not only for our soccer program, but for every program in the region.”
Since leaving Fort Lewis, Fishbein has coached at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, from 1999-2000 (his teams posted a 21-13-3 record in “rebuilding” years) and at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque from 2002 to present. During his four seasons at UNM, the Lobos have posted a pair of 18-win seasons and a 17-win mark — the three best campaigns in Lobo history. His NCAA Division I mark in four years at UNM is a mind-boggling 61-16-8 (.765). Fishbein’s 2005 squad went 18-2-3 and advanced to the NCAA Division I championship game, where they lost 1-0 to Maryland.
Fishbein’s coaching accolades are numerous. At Fort Lewis, he won NCAA Division II West Region Coach of the Year honors in 1993 and RMAC and CAC Coach of the Year awards in 1993, 1997 and 1998. At UNM, he was chosen as Soccer America magazine National Coach of the Year in 2004, NCAA Far West Region Coach of the Year in 2005, and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Coach of the Year in 2002 and 2005.
Two other Lobo coaches are already in the Fort Lewis College Athletic Hall of Fame. UNM assistant men’s soccer coach Luc Cisna was a two-time All-American at FLC and a 2005 inductee. Lobo women’s basketball head coach in a Fort Lewis alum and a 2003 inductee.