Nov. 6, 2006
After opening at home for the past two years of the NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship, the University of New Mexico will start on the road in 2006. The Lobos, the 2005 national runnerup, play at the University of San Francisco Friday at 8 p.m. MST. The winner plays at No. 13-seed California on Wednesday, Nov. 15.
San Francisco is 12-6-1. Duke is the overall No. 1 seed in the championship.
The first four rounds will be held at campus sites. The semifinals and championship of the 2006 College Cup will be held Dec. 1 and 3 in St. Louis.
UNM is 13-3-3 overall, including an 8-1-1 mark in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. New Mexico clinched its fourth MPSF regular-season title in the past five years Sunday with a 3-0 shutout over Denver.
The Lobos are making their fifth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, all in the past six seasons. UNM has a 6-3-2 record in NCAA tournament play.
Buoyed by a No. 2 overall seed in 2005, the Lobos beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Cal State Northridge and California at home to advance to its first College Cup. UNM knocked off Clemson in the semifinals before losing to Maryland in the title game.
In 2001, New Mexico won the MPSF Tournament to earn its first NCAA bid. In long-time head coach Klaus Weber’s final year, UNM defeated Florida International 1-0 in the opening round before falling to No. 1 SMU 2-0 in the second round.
In 2002, current head coach Jeremy Fishbein’s first season, the Lobos won the MPSF regular season and tournament titles before defeating Bradley 2-1 in the first round. UNM fell to No. 18 Saint Louis 1-0 in the second round.
In 2004, the Lobos earned a first-round bye before defeating Portland. They went on to tie No. 4 Virginia on the road, but the Cavaliers advanced on penalty kicks 6-5.