The UNM men’s soccer team has built a tradition of winning annually, but the Lobos took a step back last year.
The 2001 Lobos now look to prove that last year was a fluke and to return to the team’s traditional ways.
UNM expects this year to be one of redemption because it has players who recovered from injuries, a new coaching staff and a strong group of newcomers.
“The team is looking really great,” said junior midfielder Marc Laws. “I don’t see us having a lot of problems. We are going to score a lot of goals and we have a great defense. This is going to be a fun year.”
Laws and his teammates did not have a lot of fun last year as UNM had its worst season since 1988 suffering six wins and 12 losses. The Lobo’s players and coaches are eager to get back to winning.
The Lobos missed several key players due to injury. Senior forward Ty Hibbert missed all of last season after he tore the medial colateral ligament in his right knee.
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Sophomore defender Ronale Naidu missed some games with a broken leg. Laws was out of action with a pulled hamstring and the starting and back-up goalies also missed several games because of injuries. The team also had two players academically ineligible.
“We’re expecting a much improved season,” head coach Klaus Weber said. “Last year was not acceptable. We could point to what went wrong and I expect better luck this year.”
The optimism the team has comes from knowing that they now have players who can kick the ball into the goal.
Hibbert, who led the team in scoring in 1999 with eight goals, is healthy, and Laws and junior transfer Gamal Douglas, a forward, are expected to spark the offense.
Last year the Lobos struggled to score, only making 22 goals in 18 games.
Weber said he expects that each of these three players could score 12 or more goals each.
“We should definitely score more goals,” he said. “This year we are more upbeat in our tactical arrangement. We will have more players forward and change the flow of the game.”
With more firepower up front, the Lobos are hoping to be able to get leads, something that did not happen often last year, and take pressure off the defense.
Even though the defense was under attack most of last season, the Lobos only gave up 37 goals.
The defense anchor is senior Jovan Batiste, who started 16 of 18 games last season and played the second most minutes.
Weber said Batiste is one of the leaders of the team.
“He is a tremendous athlete,” Weber said. “I think you will see great things out of him. He has had tremendous improvement over the years.”
Senior Ivan Wilson, freshman Danny Bills and junior Stain Eriksen also will help in the back.
Sophomore goalkeeper Mark Johnson will protect the net for the Lobos this season.
With the injuries to two goalies last year, Johnson got valuable minutes as a freshman and played well. He started four games, allowing five goals, while going 2-2.
Weber said he has players in midfield who are fast and hardworking.
He expects that the midfield will help create a lot of scoring chances.
Juniors Javier Carrasco, Junro Narita, William Junot and sophomore Micah Newman are looking to contribute in the midfield.
The biggest change to this year’s squad is probably the new coaching staff. After last season’s struggles, UNM hired another coach to help Weber improve the team.
Associate head coach Jeremy Fishbein joins the team after a successful stint at the Division II level. He coached the University of Incarnate Word for two seasons and led them to a 21-13-3 record.
With nine returning players from last year, 10 newcomers and the new staff, Laws said the key to the season is everyone jelling.
“We need to get along and play for each other,” he said. “Right now we have good chemistry from the players and coaches. It’s better than last year.”
Better chemistry can only help UNM on the road as the Lobos went 6-4 at home, but 0-8 on the road last season.
This year the schedule is a bit more favorable for the Lobos because they do not face as tough competition as the previous season.
The Lobos start the season on the road Aug. 31 against Oral Roberts University. UNM’s first home game is Sept. 14 against Brigham Young University.
