by Kristie Boudwin
Daily Lobo
As fans at the UNM men's soccer team's 1-0 overtime win on Saturday ran carrying dismantled goalposts and chanting "Final Four" over and over, Lobo head coach Jeremy Fishbein said the only thing that could make the experience better would be the presence of his recently deceased father.
"It's been good, but the only thing is I wish my dad could be here to see this," Fishbein said. "But you know, he does see it. It's been great. It's a little bit overwhelming."
The Lobos pulled off another overtime tournament win Friday night, defeating the California Golden Bears 1-0.
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After the Lobos put 14 shots on goal in the first half and 11 in the second half, senior Jeff Rowland scored the lone goal in the 94th minute off a pass from Ben Ashwill.
"We had been pounding on the door all game and we were like, 'We have done it before, and we can do it again,'" Rowland said. "We had a lot of chances this game. We didn't put them away, and luckily, we got another good one in overtime and could ice it."
UNM goalkeeper Mike Graczyk said unfortunately he had to get used to the overtime pressures lately, but he is always confident the team will pull through.
"As the keeper, it's frustrating at times," Graczyk said. "Especially in the second half when there were so many opportunities to put it away."
Rowland said he attributes the success and team confidence in overtime to the defense.
"They have two shutouts in a row in the national tournament," Rowland said. "This is probably the best defense in college soccer."
Defensive leader Andrew Boyens said he is confident the Lobos can defend well at any point in the game.
"The old saying is, attack wins games, defense wins tournaments," Boyens said.
A sold-out crowd of 5,600 filled the stadium and many more fans peered through the chain-link fence to watch the Lobos win their biggest tournament game in school history.
"The support has been unreal," Fishbein said. "We need a bigger stadium. This is the best atmosphere in the country, and I think we've got the best team in the country."
With two more wins, Fishbein will have a trophy to prove the Lobos are the best. The team will head to the national semifinals in Cary, N.C., to play Clemson University on Friday.
"We know Clemson wasn't a seeded team and they have gone far and they are hot," Rowland said. "Any team now is going to be super tough."
Graczyk said it is going to be difficult to leave the tremendous fan support behind.
"We have gotten spoiled, and the fans have been great, but the thing about going to North Carolina is, it's a fairly neutral site," Graczyk said.
The Lobos have not lost a game on the road this season. Boyens said this team is great on the road and they like to rise to the challenge.
"It's going to be interesting not having our crowd behind us," Boyens said. "But it's the Final Four, and you can get up for those kind of games."
