Sept. 4, 2009
Lobos vs. San Francisco Game Notes
Lobo Men’s Soccer
What: Lobos vs. No. 22 San Francisco
When: 7: p.m. Saturday
Where: UNM Soccer Complex
Online: GameTracker; live broadcast/results on GoLobos.com
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
Lobo coach Jeremy Fishbein is a nice guy. No question. He just hides it a bit behind a face, behind a demeanor, that screams “intensity.” So, it goes without saying that Fishbein is an intense guy.
But we’ll say it anyway. Fish is intense. He also wants his Lobos to be intense on the soccer field. From start to finish. From one end to the other end. Win or lose.
Fishbein wants this full-game, full-field, full-team intensity for a very good reason. It wins soccer games. The Lobos showed a lot of this fullness Tuesday when they ventured onto the turf of No. 21 Saint Louis and pounded out a 3-0 win.
Let’s make this point clearer: The Lobos shutout the No. 21 team in the nation on that team’s home field while netting UNM goals from Simon Ejdemyr, Justin Davis and P.J. Wilson. It’s wins like that that push you into the NCAA Tournament — a postseason haven the Lobos plan to return to in 2009.
The Lobos get another chance to impress and be intense at 7 p.m. Saturday at the UNM Soccer Complex when No. 22 San Francisco steps onto UNM grass. Fishbein expects another top-notch effort in front of Lobo fans.
“It’s the home opener and we are coming off a great win, so it’s a great way to start the season rolling at home,” said Fishbein of his 1-0-0 Lobos.
“We feel a responsibility to play to our best for our home fans. Those people support us and it creates a great desire within our guys to put out a great effort.”
One thing is certain about this year’s version of Fishbein’s Lobos. They have more than enough talent to put out great efforts and pull out great wins. However, the Lobos had lots of talent last year, too. For a variety of reasons, things didn’t work out for the 2008 Lobos.
Fishbein is willing to single out at least two reasons: lack of toughness, lack of team unity. His Lobos are making a special effort to embrace those concepts in 2009.
“We know the type of season we want and we are willing to do the things to make that happen,” said Edjemyr, a senior. “Our commitment isn’t just something we talk about. It’s something we do. We plan to have passion about everything we do this season.”
Passion basically is another word for high-level intensity. Nothing wrong with that. Fishbein also would like to toss some toughness into the mix. He wants a tough, intense, passionate group of Lobos motivated by team objectives.
“I like the toughness and the unity I see,” said Fishbein. “This program has never had a question with talent. But last year we didn’t have the cohesiveness, the desire or maybe the ability to put team goals first. You see that with this group.”
Fish said he emphasized to his Lobos the need for leaders to step forward and not just within the senior class. He sees that fullness, too.
“We have great leadership, but that’s across the board,” said Fishbein. “We have leaders among the freshmen, leaders among the sophomores and juniors. These guys all want the same thing.”
One of the things the Lobos want is wins. Like the beauty at Saint Louis. The Lobos dominated on the scoreboard and outshot Saint Louis 15-9.
“We knew going into that game we had a pretty good team as far a talent,” said Fishbein. “But you never know how everything comes together until you go out there and play.
“Once the game settled down, I thought we played very well. We found a solid playing rhythm. We were smart with the decision making and really didn’t give the team anything in our half.”
To state the obvious, you don’t lose if the other guy doesn’t score. Fishbein says the defensive half of the soccer field extends from net to net in 2009 for his Lobos.
“We have a lot of players who see themselves as attacking players. That’s good,” said Fishbein. “But we are really trying to establish a mentality that we are going to defend the ball first and everyone on the field is going to work hard on both sides of the ball.”
The Lobos who made the field against Saint Louis were Justin Fite, Simon Ejdemyr, David Murphy, Euan Holden, Justin Davis, Stephen Brown, Michael Reed, P.J. Wilson, Lance Rozeboom, James Urbany, Ryan Farquharson, Michael Green, Levi Rossi, Andrew Parsons, Dominique Romero, Patrick Pacheco and Blake Smith.
“We have a good team and we are going to be more and more competitive internally as the younger guys improve,” said Fishbein. “That interal competition should continue to make us better. We’ll need to show our depth over the course of the season, but the emphasis is on contributing.”
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net. Previous articles are available at The Richard Stevens Corner