After starting the season with two 1-0 losses, the Lobos got back to their winning ways with four straight shutouts to improve to 4-2-0. It is remarkable that in the six regular season and 3 exhibition matches, the Lobos have yet to give up a goal in game action (allowing only 2 penalty goals). As mentioned in our season preview, this year’s defense has a chance to be one of the best defensive teams in the country, and it has been looking the part. There are many positives to take from these last two weekends, and maybe a couple of concerns to look out for.

Positives:

• Niko Hansen has had a great start to his senior season, scoring 3 goals with each being the game winner and each goal more special than the previous. His two goals this past weekend were two of the best goals I have ever seen from a Lobo player and I’m excited to see how he’ll top them.
• Jason Beaulieu has been awesome in goal so far this season, with a .32 Goals Against Average. While he hasn’t been challenged all that often, he has been up to the task on every save he has had the opportunity to make. Beaulieu has provided great leadership and willingness to take charge on the 50/50 balls, which has helped the defense play at such a high level. Also, he has an assist on the game winner with 30 seconds left in the match against CS Bakersfield, and it is always awesome when a goal keeper has an assist.
• The backline of Tom Smart, Matt Constant, Nick Rochowski and Aaron Herrera has been great to start the year. Their spacing and communication has allowed them to make sure that they are limiting good chances for the opponents. In addition, Smart and Herrera have been key to the Lobo attack with their runs and crosses into the middle of the box.
• The depth on this team has allowed Coach Fishbein to move players around and find the best combinations with each match. This was really shown when Constant didn’t play in two matches, due to his Canadian National Team commitment, where Chris Gurule moved to the center back position that he played the last two years and Chris Wehan played defensive center mid in Gurule’s spot. The end result were two 2-0 wins.

Concerns:

• The Lobo offense has done a great job of creating great looks, but have struggled finding the back of the net. It may just be a matter of time for these looks to become goals, but the longer this issue keeps up, the more it starts to feel it will be a trend all season. The Lobos need to get Josh Goss, Luke Lawrence and Sam Gleadle scoring a few goals soon to take off pressure from Wehan and Hansen.
• The first halves of matches were a concern last year and it looks like that trend has continued so far this season. With this Lobo defense, a first half goal gives them great odds of winning the match and will allow them to play to their strengths. If they don’t score, they’re liable to miss out on expected wins. That almost happened already, when Cal Bakersfield was able to hang around and almost forced a draw before Hansen scored with 30 second left in the 2^nd overtime period.

Players of the Week:

Week 2: Chris Wehan and Aaron Herrera

Week 3: Niko Hansen and Jason Beaulieu

National Polls:

The College Soccer Polls are very fluid at this point of the season, and while the Lobos aren’t ranked at this time, it is encouraging that the Lobos outplayed Notre Dame (Ranked either 1 or 2) and played even with top-5-ranked Indiana. The Lobos are in a position were a couple more wins will have them in the top 20, which is where I think they belong. Overall, a national ranking would be nice, but the main concern is to position yourself in the conversation for a national seed, which gives you the chance to host multiple home matches in the NCAA Tournament.

Up Next:

The Lobos head to California to take on UC Irvine on Saturday in a non-conference match. During Coach Fishbein’s time at UNM, the Lobos have made a point to play at least one match in California. However, with the move to Conference USA, it has become more difficult to find dates in the schedule to make it out to California. That is offset a bit, though, as with the improved conference, Coach Fishbein has more teams that want to be on our schedule, rather than just UCLA and UC Santa Barbara.