Sept. 8, 2011
LOBO MEN’S SOCCER — AT THE LOBO SOCCER COMPLEX
What: TLC Plumbing, Heating & Cooling/Lobo Invitational
Friday: 7 p.m., Lobos vs. Columbia; 5 p.m., Missouri State vs. CS Northridge
Sunday: 1 p.m., Lobos vs. CS Northridge; 10:30 a.m., Missouri State vs. Columbia.
GoLobos.com: GameTracker, Game Recap, Stats, LoboTV
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
To twist and mangle a line from the famous songwriter, Leonard Cohen: “There’s a crack in every defense. That’s how the goals get in.”
So far, there have been no cracks in the defense thrown up by Jeremy Fishbein’s University of New Mexico men’s soccer team. It has been goose egg, goose egg, goose egg and that is why the Lobos are undefeated on the year.
So, who is the hero of this defensive wall that has kept soccer balls out of the Lobo net? Is it keeper Victor Rodriguez?
Maybe, but any outstanding defense on the soccer field rolls from line to line — East to West, North to South. If you keep the ball, you keep it away from opposing toes and limit their shots on goal. If you lose the ball, you go get it back and push it to your offensive end.
“A great offense is always your best defense because you aren’t playing in your (defensive) half,” said Fishbein. “We are keeping the ball.”
The Lobos have done that defensive thing quite well and Fishbein expects that defensive effort to continue Friday and Sunday for UNM’s TLC Plumbing, Heating & Cooling/Lobo Invitational.
The Lobos play Columbia at 7 p.m., Friday, following the 5 p.m., battle between Missouri State and Cal State Northridge. UNM plays Northridge at 1 p.m. Sunday, following the 10:a.m. run between Missouri State and Columbia. There will be a lot of quality soccer this weekend at the Lobo Soccer Complex. The Lobos also plan to throw out some quality defense.
“When we have 11 guys on the field, we have 11 defenders on the field,” said Fishbein of his 2-0-1 Lobos. “We have that mentality.
“We are going to get good pressure on the ball and everybody is going to defend. Everybody is committed. I think the results speak for themselves. We have kept it out of our net.”
Fishbein said the Lobos take to the pitch with a goal not uncommon to any sport. “We go into every game and that’s one of our stated goals: `Hey, it’s a shutout.’ You’re not going to lose, if you shut out the other team. You might not win, but you’re not going to lose.”
The Lobos have won 2-0, 2-0 and tied 0-0 in extra play. A telling stat is UNM blasting 18 shots on goal compared to seven for the Lobos’ three opponents. The enemy has launched 38 times to 34 shots for UNM, which indicates that the Lobos are not forcing bad shots or wasting good chances with hasty shots.
UNM’s shot percentage on goal is a sizzling .529 while its opponents are shooting a .184 percentage. That’s a big difference. James Rogers paces UNM with three points, coming off a goal and an assist. Blake Smith, Lawrence Robledo and Giovanni Rollie also have touched net with their shots.
The shutouts have given Rodriguez a 0.00 goals-against average and a 1.000 percentage on saves. He has stopped seven shots from violating the UNM net.
“Victor has been great in goal and has come up with some big saves,” said Fishbein. “But I think mostly it’s the whole team mentality.”
Fishbein said he isn’t surprised his Lobos have come out hot and shown good chemistry. “I felt this was going to be a good team,” he said. “We brought in guys who were going to complement the returning players.
“The thing you can’t predict is how the competition for playing time is going to effect players. Is the internal (battle) going to cause problems? Three games in, guys are good.A team challenge is to keep that competition high, yet keep a sense of team. We’ve been great about it.”
“Now we get to get out there Friday and see what we’re all about once again.”
So far, the 2011 Lobos are the same-old, same-old Fishbein product. They play hard, intense, skilled and passionate. And maybe even more so in front of the home crowd, which is one of the better fan bases in collegiate soccer.
“It’s going to be a big crowd and a big atmosphere,” said Fishbein. “We’ll see how they (opponents) handle it. Is that excitement going to motivate them or are they going to be a little shell-shocked. I don’t know. We usually see a team’s best. We have to come out with intensity and get after them from minute one.
“Columbia is a good team and the Ivy League has one of the higher RPIs in the country. (Columbia) keeps getting better and better. They are a hungry team, a good attacking team.”