Oct. 15, 2009
Lobo Soccer
Friday: Vs. Seattle, 7 p.m., UNM Soccer Complex
Sunday: Vs. Cal-Bakersfield, 1 p.m. UNM Soccer Complex
Online: GameTracker, live video, results on GoLobos.com
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The target on Jeremy Fishbein’s Lobos gets bigger on Friday night. Heck, it just might swell and grow every game the rest of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season.
The good thing about having a target on your back is that it’s a symbol of respect. It means you are good. Targets aren’t given. They are earned. They are badges of honor among the elite of their sports.
The bad thing about having a target on your back is, well, you have a target on your back. It’s a big thing and often an important thing for that club across the line to take you down. They’ll come at you hard.
“If you don’t have a target on your back, it means you aren’t very good,” said Fishbein. “If you are a top team, everyone is gunning for you and you get everyone’s A game.
“In conference, we are probably looked at as the team to beat, but we always feel we have a target on our back. I think the guys are used to it because that’s part of our program. Everyone gets up for us.”
The first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) team to take aim at the Lobos is the Seattle Redhawks, who step onto the grass of the UNM Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. Friday for Stuff The Stadium night. On 1 p.m., Sunday, Cal-State Bakersfield takes a shot at the Lobos.
The Lobos enter the weekend games carrying a hefty No. 14 ranking in the NCAA’s first Ratings Percentage Index (RPI). “We played an incredible schedule,” said Fishbein. “We earned it. I could be happier with our record (6-4-0), but it is what it is and we can’t dwell on it.”
Obviously, that rating indicates the Lobos are dancing on the top shelf of NCAA men’s soccer. The Lobos have wins over three Top 48 teams on the NCAA’s first RPI list: No. 15 California, No. 24 Notre Dame, and No. 43 St. Louis.
But does that mean the Lobos will be dancing at the end of the season when the NCAA Tournament field is selected?
For sure, the Lobos are a strong consideration as an NCAA at-large team. But Fishbein says why leave it up to the selection panel that left the Lobos out last season.The MPSF has an NCAA automatic bid that goes to the conference tournament champ. Fishbein’s Lobos are after that guaranteed bid and their seventh MPSF title.
“Our RPI puts us in a good situation, but it doesn’t guarantee us anything,” said Fishbein. “Our goal is to win the regular season, get the top seed for the tournament, and then win the tournament.”
The MPSF Championships will be played in Denver from Nov. 12-15. Six of the league’s eight teams enter the bracket and two stay home. The No. 1 seed and No. 2 seed from the regular season get a first-round bye. The games will be played on a Thursday, a Friday, a Sunday.
“The bye is huge,” said Fishbein. “You don’t want to play back-to-back on Thursday, Friday. You get tired.”
Seattle comes to Albuquerque with a 1-7-1 mark. Cal State-Bakersfield is 5-3-2, but its 74 RPI rating is second in the MPSF behind the Lobos. It puts the Lobos in a precarious position. A league win probably won’t improve UNM’s RPI. A loss will drop it.
“Conference play probably will hurt our RPI,” said Fishbein. “But that’s not indicative of the caliber of teams in our conference. We have teams that are good enough to beat us and we have some tough places to play on the road.
“It’s a tough situation to be in. We are expected to beat these teams. If we win, we did what we were supposed to do and if we lose, we got upset. It will be exciting to see how our guys react to the pressure.
“We have challenges ahead and we won’t look past our next game. This is a big weekend. We need to rebound from some things, enter a new phase of the season and get off to a good start in the conference.”