After facing a defensive-minded Missouri State side Friday night that was looking for a 0-0 draw, the Lobos will play a team with a very different philosophy in the American University Eagles. Both teams are coming off 1-0 wins Friday and both sides have very strong starts to their seasons. With both sides winning their first match, this will effectively be the championship match of the TLC Pluming & Utility Invitational. Of course, because this was an invitational instead of a tournament, all of the matches were already in place. It’s nice it worked out that way.
The Matchup: The 21st ranked Eagles (6-1-0) are averaging 2.9 goals a game while taking over 16 shots per game. Both of these numbers show their offensive aggressiveness and in fact, Friday’s match was their first where they didn’t score at least two goals. That’s not to say that they don’t play defense too. The Eagles have shutouts in four of their seven matches so far this year and are averaging 1 goal allowed per game. These numbers certainly explain their great start to the season, with their lone loss this season coming in a 4-3 defeat to Fairleigh Dickerson in double overtime.
The 15th ranked Lobos (4-1-1) will look to extend their winning streak to five matches in this game. They are coming off a match Friday where they dominated Missouri State, although the final 1-0 score doesn’t really tell the whole story. The Lobos were able to check off one thing they hadn’t gotten this season when Niko Hansen found the back of the net, becoming the first non-Wehan attacking player to score a goal this season. There’s still a few more things that we’d like to see checked off that to-do list, particularly that through six matches the Lobos still haven’t scored a first half goal. It is very important for the Lobos to not fall behind American because of the offensive fire power they have; they have to play at least on even terms in the first half to give them a great chance to come out with the win.
Players to Watch: I believe that this matchup will be decided by the play of the midfielders and whoever controls the midfield will win the match. The player I will spotlight for tonight’s match for the Lobos is midfielder Josh Goss, who is back in the midfield tonight with Yuri Domiciano back as the starting left back. Goss is important to this Lobo attack and this game because of his playmaking ability, which will allow Chris Wehan to focus on finding a weakness in the defense to exploit. With Domiciano at left back and Goss back in the midfield, Coach Fishbein is able to play the lineup he wants to play, which allows the Lobos to get start building unity with this starting eleven.
For the Eagles, their attack starts with their playmaking senior midfielder Liam Robley, who has 2 goals and 8 assists already on the season. Both of his goals have come on penalties, so he is looking for his teammates to score before he looks to score himself. The Eagles have a very balanced attack, as they have six players with at least two goals and ten players that have scored at least one goal. The Lobos need to have great communication and always know where Robley is to make sure that he isn’t able to put great a service into the box for his teammates. Much like the match last Sunday against LMU, the Lobos need to stay in formation, because you don’t know where the goal scorers are going to come from. It will be vital for the Lobos to play team defense tonight instead of just individual defense.
Odds and Prediction: This is a match that will be very interesting in how it shakes out, as both teams like to create space for their attack and want to put pressure on the other side. This is a match where two goals may not be enough to win the match, because I expect both sides to see several golden opportunities to score. I put the odds of a Lobos win at 57% and ending the weekend with at least a tie at 80%. I think that the Lobos will win the match 3-1 and the Lobos will score a first half goal for the first time this season. With two ranked teams facing each other tonight, this will be one of the most exciting matches of the season, so come out to the Soccer Complex and cheer on the Lobos.
Game Info:
#15 New Mexico (4-1-1) vs. #21 American University (6-1-0)
Location: Albuquerque, NM, UNM Soccer Complex
Date: Sunday September 20th
Time: 6pm Mt
Stream: LoboTv