New Mexico vs. FAU
Saturday, Oct. 5 – 7 p.m. (MT)
Albuquerque, N.M. | UNM Soccer Complex (6,200)
LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS | IN-MATCH UPDATES @UNMLoboMSoccer
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — After a long stretch of three back-to-back road matches, The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team will return home on Saturday to host Conference USA foe Florida Atlantic at the UNM Soccer Complex at 7 p.m. The Lobos enter the match coming off of back-to-back victories and are 6-1-1 in their last eight matches.
In Wednesday’s victory over Loyola Marymount on the road, head coach Jeremy Fishbein earned his 300th career victory. Fishbein and the rest of the Lobos are looking forward to returning home and playing in front of the UNM home crowd under the Saturday night lights.
Series Record vs. Florida Atlantic
3-1-0
When FAU Ranked: N/A
In Overtime: 0-1-0
Last Meeting: The only loss the Lobos have suffered against the FAU Owls came in the squads’ most recent meeting last season. The Lobos fell 2-1 in double overtime on Oct. 15 in Boca Raton, Fla. The Lobos dominated the match in shots 21-8 and corner kicks 16-2. Luke Lawrence scored in the 87th minute to force overtime, but FAU’s Oliver Powers netted the gamewinner at 102:31.
Scouting Florida Atlantic
The Owls head into Saturday’s match riding a four-loss streak, most recently falling to Jacksonville in double overtime on Tuesday. FAU has earned just one win this season, though three losses came by just one goal.
Offensively, FAU is led by Carlos Sanchis who posts eight points on four goals, followed by Felix Halle Smith (two points on one goal) and Oscar Salas (two points on one goal).
On the defensive side of the ball, the Owls have split keepers with Daniel Ragoo starting five matches for a 2.27 goals against average and an 0-5 record. Secondary goalie Luis Aranzazu has started three contests and is 1-2-0 with a 3.95 goals against average. The pair combine for a team average of 2.73, a .574 save percentage and 27 saves.
Last Time Out – UNM at Loyola Marymount
The Lobos earned a 3-0 victory on Wednesday night on the road at Loyola Marymount. After completing the first half scoreless, the Lobos came out on fire in the second with junior Aaron Herrera, redshirt-sophomore Devin Boyce and sophomore Aaron Scott scoring in the second frame.
Scott’s goal marked his first of the season and his first as a Lobo. In addition to the trio of goals on target, senior Jason Beaulieu registered his 19th career shutout to remain third in the UNM recordbook in career shutouts.
The win was not only good for the squad, but it tallied head coach Jeremy Fishbein’s 300th career victory, for which the squad of course showered him with Gatorade. (See @UNMLoboMSoccer Twitter for video).
Second-Half Explosion
Since the Grange & Ashwill Invitational on Sept. 8, the Lobos have netted all but one goal in the second half of play, scoring 10 of 11 in the second frame following UNM’s most recent outing at LMU. Of those 10 goals, four have been gamewinners and one tied up the match with 1:17 left. Prior to Sept. 8, the Lobos had scored only three of nine goals in the second half.
September Momentum
The Lobos finished the month of September 5-1-1 and have successfully carried the momentum into the month of October with the victory over LMU. The Lobos The Lobos haven’t lost two straight since they fell to No. 11 Washington and Seattle by one-goal margins on the road to kick off the season on August 26 and August 27.
Beaulieu’s Shutouts
Senior Jason Beaulieu has now tallied a pair of shutouts this season to loft him to 19 in his career. He remains third in the UNM recordbook in career shutouts.
First is Best, More is better
The Lobos are now 4-0-0 when scoring first this season. Additionally, after scoring three unanswered goals against LMU on Wednesday, the Lobos are 77-1-0 when scoring three goals or more under coach Fishbein.
Speaking of Fish – 300: COMPLETE
In his 25th season as head coach, coach Fishbein reached the 300 milestone with UNM’s victory over LMU. He clinched the triple-century win and had all the credit to give to his guys. “I’m just glad I get to share it with this group,” – Coach Fishbein
Fishbein surpassed 200 wins at UNM with the Lobos’ 3-0 victory over UNLV at the UNM Soccer Complex on Sept. 1. He is the program’s all-time winningest coach and entered the season ranked 17th in the nation among NCAA DI active head coaches.
Receiving Votes Again
UNM is once again receiving votes in both the United Soccer Coaches Top-25 poll, as well as the College Soccer News Top-30 poll.
Preseason Honors
The reigning C-USA Tournament Champion Lobos were picked to finish second in Conference USA behind Charlotte in 2017. In addition, sophomores Tom Smart and Matthew Constant were named to the C-USA Preseason Team.
As a team, the Lobos have been ranked in the preseason by two organizations. The United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll notched the Lobos 20th while Top Drawer Soccer ranked UNM 19th.
Junior Aaron Herrera also earned Top Drawer Soccer Best XI Second Team honors heading into the season.
It’s a Hard-Knock Schedule
The Lobos are no stranger to tough competition, but this season UNM will take on eight squads that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season including three C-USA opponents. Those teams include No. 11 Washington, (RV) UNLV, CSUN, No. 13/17 Kentucky, South Carolina, UCLA, Denver and Charlotte.*
*Note: Teams that have already been faced have locked in rankings, other are updated.
A Whole New Offense
After a successful run to the 2016 NCAA postseason, the Lobos lost five key seniors from the squad and a pair of dominating attackers including Niko Hansen and Chris Wehan. Hansen was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2017 MLS Superdraft to the Columbus Crew SC while Wehan has been racking up the accolades as a member of Reno 1868 FC, a USL team. The pair combined for 61.8 percent of the Lobos’ goals last season.
Offensively, the Lobos will need to replace the dynamic duo in the attacking third and have added 13 new players to the 2017 roster in effort to replenish the squad. Of UNM’s 20 points in exhibition matches this season, 10 came from new players. The other 10 came from a trio of returners (Aaron Herrera, Sam Gleadle and Luke Lawrence) and a redshirt freshman (Noah Bushey).
The newcomers that scored included freshman Nick Taylor, who led UNM with two goals, as well as freshman Alex Vedamanikam, junior transfer Antoine Vial and redshirt junior transfer Wedner Delmonte who posted one goal apiece.
Defensively, The Boys Are Back
While the Lobo offense will look very different, the UNM defense returns the majority of an experienced and solid back line that helped lead the Lobos to nine shutouts in 2016.
First, senior Jason Beaulieu returns between the posts. He started all 22 games for UNM in 2016 racking up 2,072 minutes. He posted eight shutouts which ranks seventh in Lobo history for most shutouts in a single season. Last season he also tied for ninth in UNM history in single-season wins (12). For his career, Beaulieu heads into the season ranking tied for third in shutouts with 17, sixth in saves with 163, seventh in wins with 26 and sixth in appearances with 51.
Junior Aaron Herrera will help anchor the back line for UNM after competing with the U-20 World Cup over the summer. He started all 22 games for the Lobos last season totaling 2,050 minutes and registering six points (two goals, two assists). In addition, Herrera was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Best XI Second Team recognizing him as one of the projected top players in the country this season.
Sophomores Tom Smart and Matthew Constant also return to the Lobo defense. The pair both started all season in 2016, Smart earning 22 starts and Constant starting 20 matches, missing two to play with the Canadian U-20 Team. Smart and Constant were also the only two Lobos to earn Conference USA Preseason honors.
Lobo Soccer: A Mile High and Louder Than …
The UNM Soccer Complex is building a reputation as one of the nation’s toughest venues to play in. In addition to being “a mile high and louder than…”, New Mexico has turned Albuquerque into one of the hottest tickets in college soccer. The Lobos have ranked in the top 25 in attendance nationally every season since the NCAA began keeping those statistics in 2001.
International Pride
While the diversity of the team roster is obvious, many Lobos have some serious international credentials. Five have represented their country in top-level international competition: Aaron Herrera (US U20); Matthew Constant (US U17 National team, Canada U20 National team); Billy Jones (captained New Zealand U17 in select World Cup qualifying matches); Aaron Scott (U15, U16, U17 Scottish National Team) and Ingi Jónsson (U17 Icelandic National Team).
Excelling Off the Pitch
Lobo Soccer has a rich tradition of academic success. During the Fishbein era (2002 to present), UNM has had 20 Academic All-Americans – more than any other men’s soccer program in the country among all divisions. In addition, the Lobos have garnered 91 Academic All-Conference honorees and 20 NSCAA Scholar All-Americans under Fishbein’s tutelage. As a team, the Lobos have earned the NSCAA Academic Team Award in 13 of the last 14 seasons.