Sept. 27, 2012
#4 Lobo Men’s Soccer at Houston Baptist
- The Basics: Saturday, September 29 – 6:00 p.m. (MT) at Sorrels Field
- GoLobos.com LiveStat Links, Game Story, Stats
#4 UNM Men’s Soccer Game Notes 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The fourth-ranked University of New Mexico men’s soccer program will begin Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with a one-game road trip to Houston Baptist University. The Huskies of Houston Baptist are the newest member of the MPSF, replacing Sacramento State.
#4 NEW MEXICO AT A GLANCE: The Cherry & Silver picked up their second tournament championship in as many weeks last week. The most recent title, the 2012 Nike Lobo Invitational, saw UNM defeat Fairfield and Northern Illinois. Both victories saw the Lobos shutout their opponent and score multiple goals.
HOUSTON BAPTIST AT A GLANCE: The Houston Baptist men’s soccer program has finished its re-classification process as a NCAA Division I member after restarting the program in 2006. The restart ended a two-decade hiatus for the Huskies. HBU comes into the match with a record of 2-4-0 and on the heels of a three-match losing streak. The three losses came on road trip through the state of California with stops at San Diego, San Diego State and California.
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 68-14-9 (.819) in conference play as a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation member.
LOBOS TO WATCH: Devon Sandoval continues his torrid scoring pace. A three-goal weekend last week earned the senior his third MPSF Player of the Week award. Sandoval was also named to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s National Team of the Week for a second time. He leads the conference in goals and points, and he ranks tied for eighth in the nation in goals.
Not to be outdone by Sandoval’s knack for finding the back of the net, fellow senior Blake Smith has been on the connecting end of many of UNM’s 19 goals this season. His six assists in seven games this season have already surpassed his total from 2011. He ranks fourth in the NCAA in assists.
ALL-TIME VS. HOUSTON BAPTIST: This will be the first-ever match-up between New Mexico and Houston Baptist. However, it won’t be the last. The Huskies come to the UNM Soccer Complex for UNM’s regular season finale on Saturday, November 3rd.
DOWN THE ROAD: The trip to the Texas is a one-game getaway for Coach Fishbein and company. They return home for their conference home openers. The Lobos will host Air Force on Friday, October 5th and Denver on October 7th at the UNM Soccer Complex.