Sept. 19, 2012
#5 Lobo Men’s Soccer vs. Fairfield
- The Basics: Friday, September 21 – 7:00 p.m. (MT) at The UNM Soccer Complex
- On The Air: Live streaming through GoLobos.com
- GoLobos.com LiveStat Links, Game Story, Stats
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The fifth-ranked University of New Mexico will host the Nike Lobo Invitational with a field that also includes Denver, Fairfield and Northern Illinois.
#5 NEW MEXICO AT A GLANCE: The Lobos defeated Dartmouth and UC Irvine last week in the TLC Plumbing, Heating and Cooling Lobo Invitational. Both matches were thrilling one-goal decisions. The notable scoring action included freshman Ben McKendry’s and junior Michael Calderon’s first-career goals in the 3-2 win over Dartmouth.
FAIRFIELD AT A GLANCE: Fairfield comes into the tournament as the defending MAAC champions. They are off to a 3-2-0 start so far in 2012. The Stags have shown they prefer to play defensive, low-scoring soccer. Their goalkeeper Michael O’Keeffe has a goals against average of just 0.57 in his five starts this season.
COACH FISHBEIN: Jeremy Fishbein enters his eleventh season as head coach at New Mexico. The program is 142-45-25 on his watch and has qualified for the NCAA Tournament eight out of his ten seasons in Albuquerque. Under Fishbein, the Lobos have a record of 74-31-16 (.677) against non-conference opponents in the regular season and the NCAA Tournament.
LOBOS TO WATCH: After being held scoreless against UAB, Devon Sandoval recorded one goal (versus Dartmouth) and one assist (versus UC Irvine) last weekend. Sandoval is now tied for first among MPSF players in goals with four so far in 2012. Another Lobo making waves has been James Rogers. The speedy sophomore has five points (two goals and an assist) in his three matches played this season. The Sierra Leone native is nearly always involved in a Lobo attacking run.
ALL-TIME VS. FAIRFIELD: Friday night’s match will be the first ever between the two programs.
DOWN THE ROAD: It will be a full weekend of matches for Coach Fishbein and company. UNM will play Northern Illinois from the MAC in the second game of tournament play. The Lobos will face the Huskies at 1 p.m. (MT) on Sunday at the UNM Soccer Complex.