UNM (0-1-0) vs. San Diego (2-0-0) Men’s Soccer

The Lobos return home for their home opener, after a tough 1-0 loss on the road against #1 Ranked UCLA, to host the Grange & Ashwill Memorial Invitational, where the team will play host to #13 UC Santa Barbara and #18 USD. The first game for the Lobos this weekend will be tonight against #18 USD at the UNM Soccer Complex. This has the potential to be a huge weekend for the Lobos. If they can win both games it will be more than enough to get them back into the top 25 and give them two great wins this early in the season.

The Lobos face the San Diego Toreros in a rematch of last years 2-0 win for the Lobos in San Diego. The Toreros are coming of a great opening weekend where they beat then #18 Cal 3-0 and UC Riverside 3-0. It will be important for the Lobos to be the team that controls the pace of the game and makes the Toreros chase Wehan and the other playmakers around. If they are able to do this, it will put wear and tear on the Toreros and give the Lobos a huge advantage in the second half. If the Lobos are able to get ahead early in this game with a goal in the first 20 minutes, look for the Lobos to put the pressure on to get a second goal before San Diego has a chance to regroup. I think that playing at home might be the difference in this game and that the Lobos will be able to use the home crowd to its advantage.

Players to Watch: Jason Beaulieu, who is coming off a week as Conference USA Defensive player of the week, has to control the backline for the Lobos and communicate effectively with his defense to keep them on the same page to stop the Toreros’ offense. The most important player for the Lobos to get on track on the offensive side of the ball is Chris Wehan. He needs to find the back of the net this game, or at least be a playmaker that leads to a couple of goals for the team, for the Lobos to have their best opportunity to win.

The Toreros are a very interesting team that was very balanced last year, and they look to remain that way this year. So far this season, they’ve had six different players score their six goals. It appears that the Lobos don’t have to focus on one player to shut down, but instead play smart defense that doesn’t put them into tough situations. The one player to keep an eye on for the Toreros is sophomore goalkeeper Thomas Olson, who already has two clean sheets this year and was named WCC Freshman of the Year last year. It will be interesting to see the game that he has and if he is able to handle the Lobo pressure.

Predictions: Even with the Lobos coming of a loss and Toreros coming of a great weekend last week, I would put the chances of the Lobos winning this game at 55% and 70% to at least draw this matchup. This game can go a lot of ways, but my prediction for the final score is a 2-1 Lobos win. This will be a game that you do not want to miss, so come on out to the UNM Soccer Complex and cheer on your Lobos!

 

Game Info

In Albuquerque

At UNM Soccer Complex

Game Time: 7 PM MT

Stream: LOBO TV