Sept. 14, 2011
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Team morale and momentum are of the greatest importance for New Mexico men’s soccer this week as the Lobos head to Akron, Ohio to take on the Zips and the Syracuse Orange in the 2011 University of Akron Tournament.
After claiming the 2011 TLC Invitational championship title in a stunning comeback win over Cal State Northridge this past weekend at home, confidence isn’t an issue for the Lobos. The team is riding the high of the 2-0 weekend straight into Frida’s 5 p.m. game against Akron, which will be broadcast nationally as FOX Soccer Channel’s Game of the Week.
New Mexico is undefeated this season, posting a 4-0-1 record following its home tournament weekend. The Lobos’ most recent wins came against Columbia in a 5-1 offensive onslaught to open up the TLC Invitational on Friday, Sept. 9, and late-game, 3-1 come-from-behind victory over CSUN to secure the championship title on Sunday, Sept. 11.
The Lobos are currently ranked 12th in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer, and have jumped into the NSCAA’s Top 25, sitting at no. 16. They’re also ranked third in the Far West Region, climbing two spots from no. 5 in last week’s poll.
The 2010 College Cup Champions of Akron (who finished 22-1-2) have so far defended their NCAA title without a loss this season. The Mid-American Conference (MAC) competitors have a record of 3-0-1, most recently logging a 4-0 shutout over Saint Louis. The Zips are ranked top-five in the nation by both the NSCAA and Top Drawer Soccer, garnering the no. 4 and no. 3 spots by each organization, respectively.
Friday’s match-up will mark the third time in program history that the Lobos have gone up against the Zips. While the lifetime series record is split between the two teams their last meeting, two seasons ago, brought the Zips to Albuquerque and sent them home from the UNM Soccer Complex shouldering a 1-0 loss.
This year, there is more at stake for Akron than just gaining the edge on the series. The Zips obviously have their College Cup Title to defend, but are also riding a 40-game win streak on their home turf, which is the current NCAA record. The Lobos will hit Cub Cadet Field on Friday with every intention of handing Akron a devastating loss to shatter the streak.
In their way stand four returning starters and eight returning letter-winners from the Zips championship team, including juniors Chad Barson and Scott Caldwell. Both were just named to Top Drawer Soccer and College Soccer News’ respective National Teams of the Week.
New Mexico’s offense will certainly challenge, and challenge hard. Two Lobo forwards in junior Devon Sandoval and freshman James Rogers were also named to College Soccer News and Top Drawer’s Teams of the Week. They will look to continue to fuel the Lobo attack through the Akron Tournament.
Both teams have two seniors each on their squads who were playing the last time the two teams met in 2008. Michael Green and Lance Rozeboom bring prior experience to the table for New Mexico, having played against the Zips in ‘08, while Michael Balogun and Matt Dagilis were members of the Akron squad that year.
Friday’s match will be the first nationally televised contest for New Mexico this season, and will broadcast via FOX Soccer Channel on the following Albuquerque listings – DirecTV channel 619, DISH Network channel 406, and Comcast channel 267.
Akron will be providing LiveStats and a free webstream of the match, available at the following links:
New Mexico vs. Akron LiveStats
New Mexico vs. Akron Webstream
Additionally, fans with smartphones can download the new interactive Screach application to their devices, which will allow them to experience live interaction with NCAA soccer games. Entering ‘888’ — the college soccer game code for Screach – into the smartphone app will enable users to receive minute to minute information, questions, stats and extra content, provided by the NSCAA. The application also allows users to vote for their Man of the Match.
New Mexico will close out the University of Akron Tournament with a bout with the Syracuse Orange on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. MT. Syracuse is 2-2-0 on the year and closed out the 2010 season with a 2-10-5 overall record. They return 12 letter-winners including their leading scorer Nick Roydhouse, who tallied four goals last year.
The Orange are coming off an overtime win against American University, and will take on Cal Poly, which tied the Lobos 0-0 in double overtime two weekends ago, in their game one of the tournament.
Sunday will mark the first time that New Mexico has faced Syracuse in program history. LiveStats will be available for the match at the following link: