Sept. 8, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The No. 38 University of New Mexico men’s soccer team hits the road this week for the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament hosted by Notre Dame. The Lobos will take on No. 12 Indiana at 3 p.m. MT Friday, Sept. 11 in a neutral match on Alumni Field, then will face the host team, No. 10 Notre Dame at Noon MT Sunday, Sept. 13. GameTracker will be available on GoLobos.com for both matches.
UP NEXT:The Hoosiers are 0-1-1 after playing to a scoreless tie against No. 1 St. John’s and dropping a 2-1 decision to No. 3 Wake Forest last weekend. Indiana played host to St. John’s, Wake Forest, and No. 10 Notre Dame in the annual adidas/IU Credit Union Classic at Jerry Yeagley Field in Bloomington to kick off the regular season. The squad is coming off a 14-7-3 season in 2008. They finished 3-3-0 in the Big Ten and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Hoosiers fell short in a 3-2 overtime loss to St. John’s in the quarterfinal.
IU will be returning seven starters and 12 letterwinners from its 2008 squad. Reigning All-Big Ten teamers Andy Adlard and Eric Alexander will key the IU offense, while senior defender Ofori Sarkodie anchors the Hoosiers’ backline. Adlard was IU’s leading scorer in 2008, notching seven goals and six assists for 19 points. Sarkodie has been a mainstay of the Hoosier defense since his arrival in Bloomington in 2006, when he was a unanimous selection to the Big Ten All-Freshman team. Sarkodie started all 24 matches last season, and was named to the Soccer America preseason All-America second team for the 2009 season. Sophomore Will Bruin was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year in 2008 after scoring six goals for 12 points.
Indiana has been selected as the favorite to win the Big Ten men’s soccer title for the seventh-straight season. The runner-up for the 2008 Big Ten crown, the Hoosiers own a conference-record 12 titles and have also earned NCAA Championship bids in each of the last 22 seasons. In the only previous meeting between the two teams, New Mexico beat Indiana 1-0 (2OT) at home in 2004.
No. 10 Notre Dame is currently 1-1-1 after the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic in Bloomington last weekend. The Fighting Irish tied No. 3 Wake Forest 1-1 in their first game of the tournament on Friday, then fell to No. 1 St. John’s 2-0 on Sunday. The Fighting Irish opened up the regular season on their home turf with a 5-0 win over No. 21 Michigan on Sept. 1. The squad wrapped up the 2008 season 12-7-2, while finishing first in the Big East Blue Division with a mark of 7-2-2. The Fighting Irish bowed out of the NCAA Tournament in the second round with a 2-1 loss to Northwestern.
Eight starters and 14 letterwinners return from Notre Dame’s 2008 squad. Seniors Bright Dicke and Michael Thomas, both All-Big East first team selections last year, will pace the Fighting Irish up front. Dicke notched 12 goals and 5 assists for 29 points in 2008, while Thomas chipped in with eight goals and 5 assists for 21 points. Junior Jeb Brovsky is expected to be a top performer–the All-Big East third team selection had five goals, six assists, and 16 points last season.
Notre Dame is pegged to take the Big East Blue Division once again in 2009, after winning back-to-back Big East regular season titles for the first time in program history last season. The Fighting Irish lead the all-time series against the Lobos 1-0, notching a 2-0 victory in Las Vegas, Nev. in 2000.
INDIANA HOOSIERS
Location: Bloomington, Ind.
Conference: Big Ten
Head Coach: Michael Freitag (Indiana, ’79)
Record at Indiana: 74-22-18 (5)
Career Record: same
Starters Returning/Lost: 7/4
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 12/8
2008 Record: 14-7-3
2008 Conference Record: 3-3-0 (T-3rd)
UNM vs. Indiana: 1-0-0
Last Meeting: UNM won 1-0 (2OT) (9/19/04) at Home
Web Site: www.IUHoosiers.com
NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH
Location: Notre Dame, Ind.
Conference: Big East, Blue Division
Head Coach: Bobby Clark (Jordanhill College, ’67)
Record at Notre Dame: 106-45-22 (8)
Career Record: 259-108-47 (22)
Starters Returning/Lost: 8/3
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 14/6
2008 Record: 12-7-2
2008 Conference Record: 7-2-2 (1st Blue Div.)
UNM vs. Notre Dame: 0-1-0
Last Meeting: ND won 2-0 (2OT) (9/1/00) in Las Vegas, Nev.
Web Site: www.UND.com
LAST TIME (UNM):The Lobos are coming off a tough 1-0 loss to No. 22 San Francisco at the UNM Soccer Complex on Saturday night in the team’s home opener. After holding San Francisco scoreless for the majority of the match, the Lobos allowed the game-winner by senior forward Conor Chinn in the 86th minute. Chinn, the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2008, snuck behind the Lobo defense and took the ball from teammate Bryan Burke to beat Lobo keeper Justin Fite one-on-one for the lone goal of the match. New Mexico played tough on both ends of the ball. The Lobos outshot the Dons significantly, posting 17 shots to the Dons’ 9. New Mexico also topped San Francisco in the corner kicks category, notching five while the Dons took only one. Both teams were exceptionally organized on defense, keeping the ball out of the box and forcing turnovers in the defensive half.
LAST TIME (IU):The Hoosiers are coming off a 2-1 loss to No. 3 Wake Forest on Sunday in the last game of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic on Jerry Yeagley Field at Armstrong Stadium. Indiana, then ranked No. 7, put up a season-best 19 shots, nine of which were on goal, but it could not get a second ball in the net. Wake Forest took the early lead thanks to a defensive miscue by Indiana, but senior midfielder Eric Alexander evened up the score with his first goal of the year in the 61st minute. Wake Forest came up with the game-winner in the 78th minute by taking advantage of another defensive miscue. Indiana and No. 1 St. John’s played to a 0-0 double overtime tie on day one of the tournament.
LAST TIME (ND):The No. 10 Fighting Irish are coming off a 2-0 loss to top-ranked St. John’s in the final day of the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. St. John’s (1-0-1) snapped a scoreless tie in the 68th minute as Sverre Wegge Gundhus put the ball in the net from 18 yards away on the left side. The Red Storm made it 2-0 when Nelson Becerra scored on an open-goal situation with four seconds remaining in the match. Notre Dame tied No. 3 Wake Forest 1-1 in the first day of the tournament. Notre Dame outshot Wake Forest 16-13 on the night, a statistic that included a decisive 10-5 Irish advantage in the second half.
FISHBEIN CLOSING IN ON 100 PROGRAM VICTORIES:Lobo head coach Jeremy Fishbein enters the Mike Berticelli Memorial Tournament at Notre Dame with 99 program victories after posting a 11-6-2 mark during the 2008 campaign and notching a win over No. 21 Saint Louis in the 2009 season opener. Fishbein is in his 8th year at New Mexico, and currently holds a 194-92-25 overall record (17 years).
EJDEMYR ON PENALTY KICKS:Strong-footed Lobo senior Simon Ejdemyr is currently 7-7 on career penalty kicks. Ejdemyr scored the Lobos’ first goal of the 2009 season on a penalty kick at Robert R. Hermann Stadium against No. 21 Saint Louis. Ejdemyr also scored the Lobos’ last goal of the 2008 season on a penalty kick, the lone strike in New Mexico’s 1-0 win over No. 25 Denver at home on Nov. 16.
EXHIBITION PLAY:New Mexico looked tough in exhibition play, posting a mark of 3-0 in the 2009 preseason. The Lobos defeated No. 12 Tulsa 3-2 on the road in the exhibition opener and shutout Oral Roberts 2-0 in Tulsa, Okla. New Mexico posted a 4-0 win over CSU-Pueblo in the final exhibition match at the UNM Soccer Complex. Senior Stephen Brown scored two of the Lobos three goals against Tulsa and senior P.J. Wilson scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Oral Roberts. Senior Justin Davis notched two goals of the Lobos’ four goals at home against CSUP.
UNM HAS WON SIX LEAGUE TITLES IN EIGHT YEARS:The Lobos have dominated Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings in recent years, winning six league titles out of the last eight. All of UNM’s league trophies have come since the 2001 season. The Lobos are 48-10-6 in MPSF action in seven seasons under current head coach Jeremy Fishbein.
TWO ALL-REGION, FOUR ALL-MPSF AND SEVEN STARTERS RETURN:The Lobos return seven starters and 14 lettermen for the 2009 campaign. Highlighting this list is senior forward Justin Davis and senior defender Simon Ejdemyr, who were first-team All-MPSF selections in 2008. Both Davis and Ejdemyr were also members of the All-Far West Region second and third teams, respectively. Davis led the Lobos and the MPSF in scoring last season with seven goals and six assists for 20 points, while Ejdemyr scored five goals and notched one assist as a defender. Juniors Ryan Farquharson and and Michael Reed return from the All-MPSF squad, while seniors Stephen Brown and P.J. Wilson and sophomore Michael Green are all returning starters.
FIREPOWER RETURNS:The Lobos will have 78 percent of their goals scored returning from last season, including MPSF leading scorer Justin Davis and sharp-shooting Simon Ejdemyr, who went 4-4 on penalty kicks last season. Senior P.J. Wilson had three goals on the season in 2008, while senior Stephen Brown and sophomore Michael Green scored two apiece.
DAVIS CLIMBS THE ALL-TIME LISTS:Senior forward Justin Davis is within striking distance of several Lobo All-Time lists. His 14 career goals put him five away from cracking the top ten, while he only needs two more in the assist column. Davis is also eight points and one shot away from the top ten lists in the respective categories.
ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN STREAK CONTINUES:Senior Simon Ejdemyr was named an ESPN the Magazine Academic All-American selection in 2008, earning first-team honors. New Mexico is the only team in the country to have at least one Academic All-American award-winner every year since 2003.
LOBOS DOMINANT IN CLASSROOM:The Lobos were just as aggressive in the classroom as they were on the field in 2008. As a team, New Mexico earned its sixth straight National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award. The award is given to teams who achieve a 3.0 grade point average for the academic year. The Lobos return three student-athletes from last year’s Academic All-MPSF list in senior Simon Ejdemyr and juniors Michael Reed and James Urbany. This marks the second Academic All-MPSF award for Ejdemyr and Reed, and the first for Urbany. Ejdemyr was also selected to the Academic Far West All-Region team.
LOBOS TOUGH AT HOME UNDER FISHBEIN:The Lobo men’s soccer team has posted a 29-2-1 mark in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action at the UNM Soccer Complex under head coach Jeremy Fishbein. The only two MPSF losses at home under Fishbein came against UNLV (2-0 on Oct. 18, 2003) and San Jose State (3-2 (OT) on Oct. 16, 2005. New Mexico carries a 54-8-5 mark overall in seven years under Fishbein at the UNM Soccer Complex. The Lobos capped off the 2008 season with a 1-0 win over No. 25 Denver at home.
NEW MEXICO IS STRONG WITH A LEAD:The Lobos are tough to beat when scoring first or leading at the half. In head coach Jeremy Fishbein’s tenure, New Mexico is 83-5-9 when finding the back of the net first and 54-2-4 when holding a halftime led. The last time the Lobos surrendered a lead and lost the match was at Washington on Sept. 21, 2008 in a 3-2 OT loss to the Huskies.
NEW MEXICO 12TH IN NCAA HOMEATTENDANCE:UNM averaged 1,632 fans per game at the UNM Soccer Complex in the 2008 season. A total of 16,322 spun the turnstiles in ten home games last year, ranking 12th in average attendance in the NCAA. The Lobos were 8-2-0 in the 10 home games in 2008. UNM has ranked in the Top-15 in attendance each year since the 2001 season. The Lobos 3,629 average in 2005 is still a single-season NCAA record for average per game in a season.
FARMING LOCAL TALENT:Three New Mexico freshmen join the Lobo ranks this season, raising the number of local players on the 2009 UNM roster to six. Midfielder Patrick Pacheco of Taos HS was the school record holder for most goals in a season (32) and most assists (16) in a season, in addition to being the all-time leading goal scorer at THS with 67 goals and 36 assists in a four-year span. Pacheco was named second team all-state in 2007 and 2008. Midfielder Julian Roberts of Rio Rancho HS played on two district championship teams in 2007 and 2008, and was named first-team all-district in 2007. Forward/midfielder Lawrence Robledo of La Cueva HS was a member of the 2008 state championship team, was named second team all-state as a senior, and was an all-state honorable mention his junior year. Robledo was also the fifth-leading scorer in district 5A with 19 goals and 17 assists, totaling 55 points his senior year. Pacheco, Roberts, and Robledo team up with fellow New Mexicans Michael Reed (MF, Sandia HS), Dominique Romero (MF, La Cueva HS), and Victor Rodriguez (GK, Las Cruces HS) on this year’s squad.
2009 SPRING SEASON:The Lobos played five matches in the 2009 Spring season, posting a mark of 2-0-2.April 4 – 2-1 win over Fort Lewis College (Wilson, Ejdemyr)April 4 – 1-0 over Colorado State Pueblo (Davis)April 11 – 0-0 tie at UC-Santa BarbaraApril 12 – 0-0 tie at Cal-Poly
UNM SOCCER COMPLEX:2009 marks the 14th year the Lobos will take the pitch at the UNM Soccer Complex. The home field for the Lobos seats 6,200 fans and is equipped with endline bleachers, a new press box and a Daktronics video scoreboard. The Lobo men’s soccer locker room boasts state-of-the-art video equipment, personalized lockers, and a spacious area for use solely by the men’s soccer program.