Aug. 7, 2012
Kansas City, Kan. – Coming off the program’s first-ever undefeated season in 2011, the excitement for the University of New Mexico men’s soccer 2012 campaign was palpable. That taste got even sweeter when the Lobos placed sixth in the nation in Tuesday’s NSCAA/Continental Tire College Rankings Preseason poll.
“It’s an honor to be ranked as a “Top 10″ team in the preseason, but it’s the ranking at the end of the year which counts. Our boys are prepared and hungry to get rolling. You will see a focused, unified, mentally tough and exciting Lobo Soccer team this season,” commented Head Coach Jeremy Fishbein.
Coach Fishbein and company were also ranked in the top ten in the NSCAA’s final ranking of the 2011 season. That eighth-place ranking came after the Lobos spent the previous month ranked first in the nation.
Going into the 2011 season, the Lobos were unranked in the NSCAA’s preseason rankings. They would remain unranked, while receiving votes, until they cracked the top 25 with a 16th ranking in the third poll of the season. The Lobos would remain in the NSCAA’s national rankings for the remainder of the season and would be ranked first in the country by the beginning of November.
The season is now less than three weeks away. New Mexico will open its regular season on the road at UCLA on August 24th at 8 p.m. (MT). The Bruins placed second in the same preseason poll. They are one of four UNM opponents (UCLA, SMU, UC Irvine and UAB) for the 2012 season ranked in the Pre-Season Top 25.
NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division I Men’s National Pre-Season Rankings
| Rank | School | ’11 Final Record |
| 1 | North Carolina | 21-2-3 |
| 2 | UCLA | 18-4-2 |
| 3 | Creighton | 21-2-1 |
| 4 | Connecticut | 19-3-3 |
| 5 | South Florida | 13-4-4 |
| 6 | New Mexico | 18-0-4 |
| 7 | Louisville | 14-7-2 |
| 8 | UNC-Charlotte | 16-5-4 |
| 9 | Maryland | 14-4-3 |
| 10 | Akron | 15-4-4 |
| 11 | UC Santa Barbara | 15-7-1 |
| 12 | Indiana | 13-4-5 |
| 13 | UC Irvine | 16-6-1 |
| 14 | Boston College | 14-6-1 |
| 15 | Saint John’s | 14-7-2 |
| 16 | SMU | 13-7-1 |
| 17 | Coastal Carolina | 18-4-0 |
| 18 | Saint Mary’s (Ca.) | 11-7-5 |
| 19 | James Madison | 13-5-2 |
| 20 | Northwestern | 11-5-5 |
| 21 | UAB | 13-5-3 |
| 22 | Brown | 12-5-3 |
| 23 | Old Dominion | 12-6-2 |
| 24 | Furman | 14-4-4 |
| 25 | Bradley | 15-6-2 |
|
NEW MEXICO LOBOS MEN’S SOCCER 2012 SCHEDULE
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Time |
Aug. 16 (Thurs) CS Northridge (Exhibition)AWAY7 P.M.Aug. 18 (Sat) San Diego St (Exhibition)AWAY7:30 P.M.Aug. 24 (Fri) UCLAAWAY7 P.M.Aug. 31 (Fri) TulsaAWAY8 P.M.Sept. 2 (Sun)SMU (at Tulsa)AWAY1:30 P.M.Sept. 7 (Fri)UAB HOME7 P.M.Sept. 14 (Fri.)Dartmouth HOME7 P.M.Sept. 16 (Sun)Cal IrvineHOME1 P.M.Sept. 21 (Fri)FairfieldHOME7 P.M.Sept. 23 (Sun)N. Illinois HOME1P.M.Sept. 29 (Sat)Houston Baptist AWAY7 P.M.Oct. 5 (Fri)Air Force HOME7 P.M.Oct. 7 (Sun)Denver U HOME1 P.M.Oct. 12 (Fri)Air Force AWAY7 P.M.Oct. 14 (Sun)Denver AWAY1 P.M.Oct. 19 (Fri)UNLV HOME7:30 P.M.Oct. 21 (Sun)CS Bakersfield HOME1:30 P.M.Oct. 26 (Fri)San Jose St AWAY7 P.M.Oct. 28 (Sun)Seattle U AWAY1 P.M.Nov. 3 (Sat)Houston Baptist HOME7 P.M.
Nov. 8-11 (Thur-Sun) MPSF Tournament at UNM’s Lobo Field