If the fall exhibition season is anything like the spring, the UNM men’s soccer team will be in good shape.
Less than a week into their official fall training, the Lobos are getting ready to begin the preseason. They will get three matches over three dates, starting with University of Nevada Las Vegas on Monday, continuing with Fort Lewis on Thursday and finishing with Washington on Saturday.
In the spring, the Lobos played seven matches over four days and finished undefeated with a 6-0-1 record.
The team scored a total of 15 goals and conceded six in those matchups. Forward Niko Hansen led the offense by scoring seven goals.
These results are similar to the ones in the 2013 spring exhibition season.
In 2013, the Lobos finished the spring 5-0-1, scoring 18 goals and conceding three. Former Lobo forward/midfielder James Rogers led that team with six goals.
Later that year, UNM went all the way to the Final Four.
But Head coach Jeremy Fishbein says that every season must be looked at individually to ensure consistency.
“The focus isn’t on just winning,” he said. “It’s on the process and how you create a winning culture, a winning team.”
Fishbein also said the game he is most excited about is always “the next one.” So all his focus right now? It’s on UNLV.
The Lobos met the Rebels in the spring and took them down 4-2 with goals from four different players: Niko Hansen, Luke Lawrence, Lucas Seligman and Devin Boyce.
Senior midfielder Chris Wehan, who was appointed captain during the 2015-2016 season, said he and his teammates are excited to play the Rebels again.
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“We had a good win against them,” he said. “They are a good team and we kind of know what to expect since we just saw them a couple months ago. That will be a good game.”
Fort Lewis is another team the Lobos played in the spring. UNM took a 2-1 win in that game, led by two goals from Hansen.
Wehan said although he thinks both UNLV and Fort Lewis will provide good competition, he personally thinks the most interesting match will be on Saturday.
“Washington will be an awesome game,” he said. “The last time we played Washington was in the Elite Eight so there’s probably a little bad blood on that one.”
Wehan was referring to the 2013 fall season when the Lobos prevailed then-No. 2 seed Washington with a score of 1-0. Until that game, Washington had gone the entire season without losing at home.
That was the win that sent UNM to the Final Four for the second time in school history.
“It’ll probably feel like a real game even though it’s just an exhibition game. It will be exciting,” Wehan said.
Although that Elite Eight match was three years ago, Fishbein says he thinks this year’s team can get just as far, or even farther this year because he feels confident in his staff and the players.
But he is not going to worry about that yet.
“You can’t get ahead of yourself,” he said. “You have to enjoy each and every session. You have to enjoy the moment. I couldn’t ask for a better group to be surrounded by.”
