The New Mexico Men’s Soccer team will start their Conference USA season tonight, when they go on the road to play South Carolina. The Lobos are on a nice streak right now, winning their last five matches against a good slate of opponents. The Lobos are playing great soccer going into C-USA play and will try to make up for last season’s collapse that saw them finish their conference season at 4-4-0. This is a very important game for the Lobos conference title chances because not many teams will get a result at South Carolina, so a win here could give them a little advantage early. Conference USA has nine teams, so each team plays four home and four road matches. Due to the unbalanced schedule, you have to win your home matches and get results on the road if you want to have a good chance of winning the league. For the Lobos, the quest for a league championship starts tonight.

The Matchup: This will be a very interesting matchup simply to see how South Carolina wants to play this match. Will they play the Lobos straight up or will they pack it in and try to come out with a result? South Carolina would likely be thrilled with a tie against a top-10 team, but that would put them at a disadvantage in conference play.

Here are few quick facts for this match to get a sense for both teams:

New Mexico:

• Has yet to score in the first half this season.
• Has outscored opponents 10-2 in second half and overtime.
• Has outshot opponents 95-90.
• Chris Wehan leads team with six goals.
• Niko Hansen is now the second leading scorer, scoring both of his goals this season just last weekend.

South Carolina:

• Has been outscored this season 15-13.
• Has been outshot 116-67, which means they’ve been outshot by seven shots a game.
• Has scored six goals in the first half this season.
• Danny Deakin is their leading scoring, having scored six goals so far this season.

We can see from this that the first half will be very important to this match. The Lobos need to play at least to even terms and hopefully score a first half goal for the first time this season. The Lobos should have plenty of chances in the match to put pressure on the South Carolina backline and hopefully start the Conference USA season with a big road win.

Players to Watch: You win conference matches with your best players, which for New Mexico mean Chris Wehan. While he didn’t score in last weekend’s two matches, he was a distraction for the opponents and opened the door for Niko Hansen to score his first two goals of the season. Wehan needs to apply pressure on the South Carolina defense and be the Lobo that breaks the team’s streak of not scoring in the first half. I expect Wehan to have a big match and believe that he will score at least one goal in this match.

The player to watch for South Carolina is midfielder Dean Deakin, a junior transfer from Division II Mercyhurst College, who leads the South Carolina side with six goals and also has one assist. New Mexico’s backline needs to know where he is at all times to keep him contained. Deakin has only taken two shots a game but has put eight of his 14 shots on goal. It will be interesting to see if he can keep that sort of rate up in C-USA play. Whichever side is able to slow down the others team’s leading scorer will have a great shot to win this match.

Predictions: This will be an interesting match to see unfold as I’m not sure how South Carolina will approach this match. If they play straight up, it could get ugly for South Carolina, as UNM is the superior team and is playing well right now. I put the odds of New Mexico winning this match at 55% and coming back to Albuquerque with at least a draw at 75%. I predict the Lobos will win the match 3-1. It should be a fun match to watch, and I hope that you are able to find a way to watch the match.

Game Info:

Who: #7 New Mexico (5-1-1) At South Carolina (4-2-1)

Where: Eugene E. Stone III Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina

When: Friday September 25 at 5 PM MT

How to Watch: WatchESPN