The field for this year’s NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship was announced Monday morning, but with an 11-6-1 overall record, the Lobos did not receive an at-large bid.
It’s the first time that UNM has missed the NCAA tournament since 2008.
“We just didn’t win games that we needed to win,” redshirt sophomore Chris Wehan said. “It’s on us.”
Each year, 48 teams are selected for the championship. The winners of the 24 conference tournaments qualify automatically, and a selection committee picks the other 24 teams based on their Ratings Percentage Index. An RPI is based on a team’s wins and losses and the difficulty of its schedule.
The Lobos ended the season with an RPI of 34.
Last year, the Lobos made the cut after winning the Conference USA regular-season title. They were seeded seventh in the NCAA tournament and to the College Cup semifinals with a 14-6-2 overall record, before falling to Notre Dame.
Before this year’s season began, expectations were high for the Lobos. The C-USA league announced them as preseason favorites to win the conference, and the NSCAA ranked them fifth in the nation.
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein had said he expected his team to go just as far as last year, or even further. But his expectations were not met, as the Lobos finished fifth in the regular season standings. Fishbein declined to comment before today’s afternoon press conference.
“I think with the way our program is, any time you don’t make the NCAA tournament you see it as a disappointment,” Wehan said. “We’ve played some of the best soccer people have seen from this program. But it’s still a disappointment that we didn’t make it, especially for the seniors.”
UNM did not go past the quarterfinals in the C-USA tournament, when the Lobos fell 2-1 to the tournament host Old Dominion. Old Dominion was the eventual champion of the tournament after beating South Carolina 2-1 last weekend.
The Lobos had no problem outshooting their opponents this season. Although they frequently appeared strong statistically, the Lobos were not always able to put the ball in the back of the net.
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In previous interviews, Fishbein said his team was good at creating chances but not at finishing the plays, and that his team needed to work on the attacking third.
He had also said his team needed “that one guy” who the team could count on to score goals. Wehan emerged as the team’s lead scorer not long after, but even Wehan’s 10 goals this season were not enough to help the Lobos win games.
The first round of the NCAA tournament will begin Nov. 20. The semifinals will take place at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on Dec. 12, with the finals on Dec. 14.
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
