ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team is pleased to announce its 2015 schedule, which includes six matches against teams that made the 2014 NCAA Tournament, including another contest with last year’s national runner-up, UCLA, to start the season.
“I’m really excited about our schedule,” UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said. “We get to test ourselves early against some top teams, both on the road and at home. Our fans are going to get to see some great non-conference teams, as well as some big conference teams that are coming to Albuquerque this year.”
UNM will play exhibition matches against Air Force and Grand Canyon at home on August 15 and 19, respectively, before closing out its pre-season play at Denver, another 2014 NCAA Tournament team, on Aug. 22.
The opener comes in Los Angeles on Saturday, August 29 and is a rematch of last season’s 2-1 UCLA win at the UNM Soccer Complex when both teams were ranked in the Top 10. The Lobos outshot the Bruins 18-3, but UCLA was still able to come away with a narrow victory in front of the second largest regular-season crowd ever at UNM.
The Lobos’ first two home matches will be on Friday Sept. 4 and Sunday Sept. 6 in the Grange & Ashwill Memorial Tournament against the University of San Diego and UC Santa Barbara. San Diego advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season before falling to UCLA 2-1.
UNM will make a return trip to Southern California for matches against Northridge and LMU, before hosting Missouri State and American in the TLC Heating and Plumbing Invitational Sept. 18 and 20.
The Lobos open Conference USA play on the road at South Carolina on Friday, Sept. 25, and their home conference opener comes on Sunday, Oct. 4 against Kentucky. Sandwiched between those games is a non-conference match at UNM Soccer Complex on Sept. 30 versus San Francisco.
After a trip to 2014 C-USA Conference Tournament champion Old Dominion on Oct. 10, the Lobos will play their final non-conference match of the season on Wednesday, Oct. 14 against Valparaiso.
The Lobos conclude the regular season with five straight C-USA matches. They host UAB on Sunday, Oct. 18, travel to Marshall on Friay, Oct. 23, return home to face Charlotte on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and then visit Florida International on Sat., Oct. 31.
UNM’s final regular season match will be versus Florida Atlantic at the UNM Soccer Complex on Friday, Nov. 6. The Conference USA Tournament will take place Nov. 11-15 at site that is to be determined.
“We’re excited to get going,” Fishbein said. “We’re coming off a great spring, and the boys are going to be ready to get back on the field.”