Only two more weekends remain for the UNM men’s soccer spring exhibition season.
The Lobos will host University of Colorado Colorado Springs for their first and only home game this spring. The following weekend, they will hit the road once more to compete against Denver at Highlands Ranch.
UNM is 5-0-1 after battling two teams through winter-like conditions at Taos last Saturday.
Head coach Jeremy Fishbein said the Lobos have been good at adjusting to different situations, and that this past weekend was a good example.
“A big part of the spring is how we prepare for the unexpected and our ability to take ourselves out of our comfort zone. And yeah the snow was definitely not what we expected,” Fishbein said.
In the morning, the Lobos got a 2-2 draw with the Air Force Falcons.
Snow covering the field forced the match to be delayed, as the Falcons and the Lobos teamed up to clear the pitch.
An hour later, the 70-minute match was finally on its way.
Air Force took a 1-0 lead during the first half, the first goal that Lobo goalkeeper Jason Beaulieu had allowed this spring.
The Lobos caught up when Matt Dorsey, assisted by Niko Hansen, scored in the 55’ minute.
Dorsey and Hansen kept up the teamwork and a few minutes later, Hansen scored a goal of his own thanks to an assist by Dorsey.
But UNM was not able to hold onto the lead for long. Air Force tied the game 2-2 with 12 minutes remaining.
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At 4 p.m., the Lobos, still hungry for a win, played another 70-minute match, this time against Fort Lewis.
The players got an extra warm up as they cleared accumulating snow off the pitch one more time.
UNM took a 2-1 win thanks to two goals by Hansen during the 31’ and 39’ minutes.
Fishbein said he was proud of the way his players dealt with the unexpected challenges as it shows how much they’ve matured.
The Lobos will need to have that same mentality this weekend when they face UCCS, a team they don’t have much experience against.
The Division II team finished its 2015 fall season with a 13-5-0 record.
Statistically speaking, the Mountain Lions defense is comparable to the Lobos’. Last season, both teams allowed 18 goals. However, UNM lead in saves with 77 compared to UCCS’s 66.
For the offense, UCCS’s results were slightly stronger. The team had 30 goals last season, eight more than the Lobos.
Although the teams play in different divisions, Fishbein said the Lobos can’t let their guard down.
“(The Mountain Lions) are a Division II school, so they’ll have a lot of incentives,” he said. “I’m sure they are going to be hungry and not be afraid to give us all they got.”
Fishbein says the Lobos are excited to be playing at home, but that they have to remain focused. This Saturday, he doesn’t want to settle for a win.
“This weekend? I want a shutout,” Fishbein said.
Isabel Gonzalez is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @cisabelg.
