Lobo Soccer- at Conference USA Tournament
Where: Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va. (ODU Soccer Complex – 4,000)
When: Wednseday, Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. (MT)
Who: Old Dominion University
GoLobos.com: Live stats, live stream, box score, postgame recap and stats
Video: The game will be broadcast live on the C-USA Digital Network
Weather Forecast: Sunny in the mid 60s Wednesday; Windy and in the mid 40s Friday; Chance of rain and in the mid 50s Sunday
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The No. 22 University of New Mexico men’s soccer team heads to Norfolk, Va., and Old Dominion University for the Conference USA Tournament that begins Wednesday. The Lobos enter the tournament as the No. 5 seed following its regular-season ending victory last weekend.
“We had a great win Saturday night against South Carolina,” UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “And not just that we got the win, but it was an emotional game. It was Senior Night, there was a lot on the line, and it was an important way to end the regular season. We played extremely well against a very good team that made it difficult. Now we get to enter the Conference USA Tournament with the first game on Wednesday.”
The Lobos will face the host Monarchs at 5 p.m. MT in the quarterfinals Wednesday. Should they win that match, they will advance to face No. 1 seed Charlotte at 5 p.m. Friday evening. Not that UNM is overlooking ODU, however, because with an RPI that is No. 30, the Lobos don’t have much margin for error in regards to the NCAA Tournament.
“I feel we’re in a good spot right now,” said Fishbein, “but it does you no good to guess as to where you stand in the NCAA Tournament. The only thing that’s certain is that we need to have a good game Wednesday night.”
The Lobos defeated Old Dominion 4-0 on Oct. 25 with Chris Wehan scoring a pair of goals. Coupled with its 3-0 win over the Monarchs in 2013, UNM has outscored them 7-0 in two meetings. Of course, past performance doesn’t dictate future results, but it’s promising for a Lobo squad looking to get back on track late in the season.
“We had a good result against Old Dominion (at home), so we know their strengths,” Fishbein said. “But it’s a big game for them as well. It’s going to be fun.”
Earlier Tuesday the league office announced the All-Conference teams as voted by the coaches, with the Lobos tying with Kentucky for the most players honored with six apiece. Ben McKendry and Chris Wehan led the way on the first team for UNM, while Mathew Gibbons, Nick Miele and James Rogers were on the second team, and Niko Hansen rounded out the Lobos’ selections on the third team. Fans can watch a stream of the game here.
Even if they don’t earn the automatic berth that comes with winning the conference tournament, the Lobos have a chance of reaching the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 17 at 11 a.m. MT and will be streamed at NCAA.com.
SCOUTING OLD DOMINION … The Monarchs are coming off a thrilling 3-2 win in overtime over FIU to close out the regular season. Ryan Condotta leads the Monarchs with four goals and nine points, while three others have three apiece. UNM defeated ODU 4-0 in Albuquerque on Oct. 25, but the Monarchs scored three goals in each of their last two wins, which is a season high in scoring output. Alex Tiesenhausen has played every minute in goal for ODU this year and boasts a .793 save percentage.
SCOUTING C-USA … Charlotte won the regular-season title by defeating Kentucky 2-1 in the season finale. Charlotte and UAB rank 1-2 in most offensive categories, including points, goals, assists and goals per game. Kentucky has the best defense in the conference (0.67 goals per game, 10 shutouts), while Charlotte and the Lobos are tied for second in both (0.82, eight shutouts). UAB plays the most disciplined soccer, receiving only 10 yellow cards in 17 matches. South Carolina is also pretty disciplined, averaging fewer than 10 fouls committed per match.
SIX EARN ALL-C-USA HONORS … Chris Wehan and Ben McKendry lead UNM’s selections on the All-Conference USA teams, as they both earned first-team honors. Mathew Gibbons, Nick Miele and James Rogers were named to the second team, and Niko Hansen was voted to the third team.
SENIORS CLOSE TO RECORD … Five of UNM’s seniors are close to tying the school record for wins in a career. Patrick Poblete, Mathew Gibbons, James Rogers, Nick Miele and Riley McGovern are one win away from tying to record of 61 set from 2002-05 and tied by the class of 2004-07.
GIBBONS ENTERS TOP 10 … Senior Mathew Gibbons is now tied for fourth all-time at UNM in career starts with 79. Also, his 7,058 minutes played put him in fifth place in program history.
ROGERS CLIMBING … James Rogers’ goal vs. South Carolina on Nov. 7 was the 22nd of his career, moving him into an eighth-place tie in UNM history. Meanwhile, his 176 shots are fifth most, his 64 points are eighth most and his 20 assists are tied for fourth most. His 72 starts (in 78 games) are tied for ninth most.
BEAULIEU MOVING UP … Jason Beaulieu continues to make moves in the UNM history book. He is now tied for the most shutouts by a freshman keeper at UNM with five, and his six wins are second most. He is tied with Andrew Weber (2001) in shutouts, and trails only Weber. Meanwhile, his 0.66 GAA is on pace to not only be the best by a freshman at UNM, but it would be seventh all-time in a single season.
FOUR EARN ACADEMIC HONOR … Josh Dye, Niko Hansen, Nick Miele and Chris Wehan were all named to CoSIDA’s Academic All-District Team on Thursday, Oct. 30. It’s the most for the program since 2007 when current assistant coach Mike Graczyk was one of five to be named Academic All-District.
McKENDRY AMONG THE BEST … Soccer website TopDrawerSoccer.com released its midseason rankings of the top 100 players in the nation on Oct. 21, and junior midfielder Ben McKendry was ranked seventh in the nation and tops among all C-USA players. Senior defender Nick Miele was also ranked, coming in at No. 95. For the freshmen rankings, keeper Jason Bealieu was at No. 52.
SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS … UNM unleashed 31 shots in its loss vs. Marshall on Nov. 1, which is the third most in a single match in program history and the most in 25 years. The record is 44 set on Sept. 24, 1989, vs. Colorado Christian College.
MOST INTERESTING SCORER IN THE WORLD … UNM’s senior midfielder Oniel Fisher doesn’t always score goals, but when he does, it’s a game-winner. He has four career goals in 33 matches and each one has been a game winner, including three this season: vs. No. 13 Akron on Aug. 29, at San Diego on Sept. 14, and vs. Missouri State on Oct. 12. His other career goal came against Penn State in the Sweet Sixteen last season, which was the first of two for UNM in its 2-0 win.
QUICK STRIKES … UNM scored in the first minute on both Oct. 1 and Oct. 4, for just the third and fourth time in program history. On Oct. 1 Ben McKendry converted a penalty just 16 seconds in to open the scoring against West Virginia, which was the fastest goal in school history, and on Saturday, Oct. 4, UNM took a lead just 43 seconds into the match on a goal by Niko Hansen.
A MILE HIGH AND LOUDER THAN … The Lobos ranked eighth in the nation in attendance last season, averaging 2,121 fans for each of the team’s 12 home games in 2013. UNM’s match vs. No. 1 UCLA was the second most attended regular-season home game in program history as 5,026 fans came out to UNM Soccer Complex. The Lobos are averaging 2,276 fans through 11 home matches, which is ninth in the nation.
NO EASY PATH … UNM’s schedule was not an easy one to negotiate. The Lobos faced seven teams currently ranked in the top 39 of the RPI: No. 1 UCLA, No. 3 Charlotte, No. 25 Kentucky, No. 26 UAB, No. 27 Akron, No. 35 West Virginia and No. 39 Old Dominion.
FISH AMONG THE BEST … Head Coach Jeremy Fishbein continues to build his coaching legacy at New Mexico. The 2014 season is Fishbein’s 13th at the helm of Lobo Soccer. His UNM record of 168-54-28 makes him the program’s all-time winningest coach. Furthermore, Fishbein has cemented himself among the best in the nation. His 142 wins since 2004 are tied for second in the nation among all active NCAA Division I head coaches.
NCAA Active Win Leaders Since 2004
1st – Sasho Cirovski (Maryland) – 170 wins
T-2nd – Jeremy Fishbein (New Mexico) – 142 wins
T-2nd – Jay Vicovich (Wake Forest) – 142 wins
T-2nd – Tom Vom Steeg (UC Santa Barbara) – 142 wins
5th – Ray Reid (UConn) – 140 wins
6th – Elmar Bolowich (Creighton) – 139 wins
7th – George Gelnovatch (Virginia) – 135 wins
8th – Ken Lolla (Louisville) – 130 wins