Aug. 31, 2011
Who: Lobos at Cal Poly – Friday, 8 p.m. – Alex G. Spanos Stadium
Lobos at Santa Clara – Sunday, 8 p.m. – Buck Shaw Stadium
GoPoly.com: Livestats
SantaClaraBroncos.com: Livestats and Webstream
ALBUQUERQUE , N.M. — Friday evening will mark a pivotal match-up for both the New Mexico Lobos and the Cal Poly Mustangs early on in their seasons, as both teams opened up 2011 with wins on their respective home fields. Now, the Lobos will look to stifle the Mustang’s seven-game winning streak at home while boosting their own record to 2-0 with the first road win of the season.
With momentum favoring both teams — New Mexico being victorious in both preseason exhibitions and its home opener, and Cal Poly on a hot streak at home — Friday’s contest is nothing to take lightly. Neither is Sunday’s match-up between the Lobos and the Broncos for Santa Clara. It will mark just the second meeting between the two teams, with the first coming in 1992 and ending in a 110-minute scoreless tie.
NEW MEXICO AT A GLANCE: The Lobos head into the weekend ranked 10th in the Far West Region with a 1-0-0 record. They opened the season with a 2-0 victory over Towson, with Giovanni Rollie scoring his first career goal and game-winner.
CAL POLY MUSTANGS AT A GLANCE: The Mustangs (8-7-3 in 2010) picked up their first win on a 1-0 decision over New Mexico’s MPSF rival UNLV on Aug. 27, which extended their consecutive wins at home streak to seven.
SANTA CLARA BRONCOS AT A GLANCE: Santa Clara also got a 1-0 victory over Stanford on the 27th, and will be looking for their first victory over New Mexico in program history.
COACH FISHBEIN:The Lobos are led by Jeremy Fishbein, who is in his 19th season as a head coach and 10th at New Mexico. He carries a record of 120-45-21 into the weekend, which means that the Lobos have won just over 70% of its games during Fishbein’s tenure. He’ll be hoping to widen the gap in his road record of 36-23-10 with two wins this weekend.
LOBOS TO WATCH: Lawrence Robledo has made a quick name for himself on the pitch for the Lobos, scoring goals in each of New Mexico’s two preseason games and netting his second career goal in the team’s home opener over Towson. Others who have been “hot shots” so far this season include seniors Mike Green and Lance Rozeboom, who are notorious for putting shots on net, as well as James Rogers and Giovanni Rollie. Rogers and Rollie are making their debuts this season as Lobos and have already combined for Rollie’s first career goal against Towson.
MUSTANGS TO WATCH: Cal Poly returns seven starters, including three seniors in Wes Feigner, Evan Richter and Patrick Sigler. Richter and Sigler were both named All Big-West last year, while Feigner was named NSCAA All Far-West Region.
BRONCOS TO WATCH: Santa Clara finished 10-6-5 last season and first in the WCC with a 7-1-4 stand. The squad is led by a pack of five seniors, including keeper Kevin Klasia who is a two-time All-WCC Honorable Mention player (2007 & 2010) and has a 0.98 GAA average.
SERIES HISTORY: New Mexico is looking to tie the series against Cal Poly, currently down two games to three since the first meeting in 1994. Meanwhile, the only prior meeting between UNM and Santa Clara ended in an overtime no decision, leaving both teams looking for their first series win.
LAST WEEK:The Lobos drew a crowd of 2,168 for their home opener against Towson and did not disappoint, shutting out the Tigers 2-0 courtesy of goals by Rollie and Robledo. Cal Poly and Santa Clara also each picked up wins in their first games.
Following their weekend on the road, the Lobos will return home to host their annual TLC Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Invitational on September 9 through the 11th.