The No. 7 UNM men’s soccer team will begin conference play tonight with an away match against the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The Lobos (5-1-1) are the only team in Conference USA that has yet to play a conference match. The Gamecocks (4-2-1) won their C-USA opener by defeating the University of Alabama at Birmingham 1-0 last week.
Before this game, South Carolina was having trouble on the defensive side, having allowed 11 goals in its previous three matches.
On Tuesday, the Gamecocks handed the No. 8 Elon Phoenix (7-1) its first lost of the season with a 3-1 win at home. The Gamecocks have yet to lose a home match this season.
UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein describes South Carolina as a good team with “some real capable players,” and said he wants to see the Gamecocks challenge the Lobos tonight.
“I’m not exactly sure what we are going to see,” Fishbein said. “I sure hope they come out and play us and want to go toe to toe with us.”
As for the rest of the C-USA teams, Fishbein says there is a lot of talent and that everyone has a chance at winning the conference.
“I think it’s pretty wide open,” he said.
Fishbein says he appreciates the challenge because competition brings out the best in his team.
“It’s often easier to play well against top opponents because you are excited for the challenge and you are playing a team that often feels they are your equal and it’s an open game,” he said. “I think when you play some of these other teams…they were very defensive, and that presents different challenges.”
A team to watch in the conference will be Charlotte (2-3-2). The 49ers were picked by C-USA to win the conference this year after taking the regular season title a year ago.
Charlotte opened its conference play with a match against No. 12 Old Dominion (4-1-2). The teams battled through double-overtime to finish in a 1-1 draw. The 49ers had a slight 15-13 edge in shots.
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Fishbein said he expects both Old Dominion and Charlotte to be “really good” in the conference.
But a team that has really impressed Fishbein this season is the No. 24 Florida International University (5-2-0).
“I think Florida International is much better this year,” he said. “They brought in three impact type players.”
Like the Lobos, FIU also has a five-game win streak. This week the team made its first season appearance in the top-25. The Panthers dominated their first conference match with a 7-2 win against Florida Atlantic (0-5-1) on Monday.
Fishbein says the Lobos will have serious competition this year, so the team’s focus will have to be on defensive.
“If we can shutout our opponent, we are not going to lose. That’s where it starts,” he said.
For now, Fishbein said all his team can do is take one day at a time.
“It’s just best for us to be about the next game and continue to be strong defensively, to be humble, to be hard working and to be unified,” Fishbein said. “I feel real good about the future.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on twitter @cisabelg.
