Nov. 9, 2009
New Mexico Heads To Colorado For MPSF Tourney
WOODLAND, Calif. – University of New Mexico sophomore midfielder Michael Green earned two weekly awards today after scoring both goals, including the game-winner, in a 2-0 Saturday home win over UNLV. Green was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week and was also selected as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week.
Green struck less than four minutes into the game to put the Lobos ahead early on. He took a pass from Stephen Brown inside the box and netted the game-winner at 3:56, then had a breakaway shot that found the right corner of the net at 66:05. He took a flick from Justin Davis and beat two players on the dribble for the second strike. With the goals, Green jumped up the scoring charts for the Lobos and now sits second on the team in scoring with 13 points on five goals and three assists.
“It’s great, obviously,” said Green. “Right now I’m just more worried about the team’s success, as we’ve got the conference tournament coming up. It’s good we got the second seed and the first-round bye so we get that extra day of rest.”
The win locked down the number two seed for the Lobos in the upcoming MPSF Tourney. The CSN award is the third national weekly award for Green this year, as he was named to the CSN and Top Drawer Soccer National Teams of the Week on Oct. 5 after scoring both goals in the Lobos 2-0 victory over Cal State Northridge. The MPSF nod is his second this year–he was also named Player of the Week on Oct. 5.
The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team heads to Denver, Colorado this week for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament. Obtaining the #2 seed was crucial, as it gives New Mexico a first-round bye in the tournament and allows them to bypass back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday, Nov. 12 and 13. The MPSF Tournament will be held at Pioneer Field on the University of Denver campus from Thursday, November 12 through Sunday, November 15. The Lobos enter the tournament with an overall record of 11-6-0 and are 5-2-0 in conference play.
The tournament schedule is as follows: # 3 San Jose State will take on # 6 UNLV at 4:30 p.m. MT and # 4 Denver will face # 5 Air Force at 7 p.m. MT on Thursday, Nov. 12. After the completion of Thursday’s games, the teams will be reseeded so that # 1 Sacramento State will face the lowest remaining seed and # 2 New Mexico will play the higher seeded remaining team in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 13. Depending on which team the Lobos play, the match will be at either 5 or 7:30 p.m. New Mexico’s schedule and opponent will be updated on GoLobos.com when it becomes available on Thursday. The Championship game pits the semifinal winners against one another, and will be played at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 15.