The University of New Mexico men’s soccer team will play San Diego and UC Santa Barbara for its first two home matches this weekend at the Grange & Ashwill Memorial Invitational.
The Lobos are coming off a 0-1 loss on Saturday to No. 1 UCLA. UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein said he had mixed feelings about the result because his team did some positive things, but could also have performed better.
“I think a tie would have been probably a fair result,” he said. “I think it would be a naïve statement to say we were better and we should’ve won. That wouldn’t be accurate.”
Nonetheless, Fishbein said it is still too early in the season to worry, and that right now he is only feeling excitement.
“We are getting tested, getting to play some great opponents,” he said. “I like where our team is; it’s a constant learning process, but I think we are getting a better understanding about who we are and what it’s going to take to be successful.”
Things won’t get any easier for the Lobos this weekend, as both of the opponents they face are nationally ranked, and both have shown to have strong defensive players this season.
UNM will take on No. 18 San Diego on Friday night. Last season the Lobos defeated the Toreros 2-0, but this year USD is coming in stronger.
The Toreros have gained confidence in the past week after collecting two 3-0 shutouts in their first two matches. They took down No. 16 California last Friday, and UC Riverside on Monday.
USD will want to continue its shutout streak this weekend, but the Lobos are looking to break it.
“There’s no maybes: we have to,” Fishbein said. “If we are going to win, we have to score a goal, so that’s what we are going to do. We are going to win the game.”
On Sunday, UNM will face No. 13 UC Santa Barbara. The last time the Lobos faced UCSB was in 2013, and they won the match 1-0.
The Gauchos are coming to Albuquerque after defeating No. 5 Stanford 1-0. This was UCSB’s first win against Cardinal since 2004.
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Fishbein said the Lobos just have to “get into a playing rhythm,” and that they will without doubt show better performances each game. All he asks of his players is for them to focus only on the things they can control.
“Our big theme this season is that we don’t give openings to our opponents, and teams aren’t going to break us down,” Fishbein said. “Teams aren’t going to beat us. We can only beat ourselves.”
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
