The Lobos (7-3-1, 2-1-1) look to extend their three-match win streak as they host UAB (3-4-3, 0-3-1) in a big C-USA match for the Lobos. After starting the season 0-2 with two road losses in Seattle, the Lobos have gone 7-1-1 over their last 9 matches. The only loss during this 9 match streak was a 1-0 loss to Kentucky, with the lone goal coming with seconds left in the first half on a penalty kick. The Lobos are playing at a high level right now and will be in the hunt for the C-USA regular season title. The key for the Lobos isn’t to worry about winning the title, but taking each match as an opportunity to earn the right to host NCAA Tournament matches. I mentioned this on Twitter, but the Lobos have the ability to win all the remaining matches on their schedule. If the Lobos go into the conference tournament with a 13-3-1, 12-4-1, or 12-3-2 record, they will be in the hunt for a top-16 seed.

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The Lobos (4-2-0, 0-0-0) will be the final team in Conference USA to start conference play this season when they host #13 Kentucky (4-1-1, 1-0-0) Saturday night at the UNM Soccer Complex. After winning their last four matches while outscoring opponents 11-3, the Lobos look to have found their passing and attacking game, and it couldn’t come at a better time. This will be one of the most important games in conference play this year, as both sides figure to be in the conference title race. Over the past three years, the two teams have played four matches, with UK holding a 3-0-1 advantage. However, that record is a little misleading, given that each of the three wins were 1-0 matches. Look for the trend of low-scoring games in this matchup to continue, as both teams are defensive-minded sides.

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The Lobos (2-2-0) return home after a dominating performance on the road against Marquette. They will host their annual Pat Grange and Ben Ashwill Invitational this weekend, where they will play Cal State University Northridge (CSUN) on Friday and UC Irvine on Sunday. The Lobos look to have things rolling after struggling to find offense in their two matches in Seattle, scoring only 1 goal in those two matches, both losses. Since then, the Lobos have scored 7 goals in their two matches while allowing only 1 goal. The Lobos will look to keep it going this weekend before they start conference play next week, and they should be able to go 2-0-0 this weekend to enter conference play with a 4-2-0 record.

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The 2017 season is finally upon us for the Lobo Men’s Soccer program, marking the 16th year of the Coach Fishbein Era. The Lobos are coming off a 12-7-3 season (4-3-1 in Conference USA play), which came with the conference tournament crown and a second round appearance in the NCAA Tournament before losing at Washington. The 2016 season was an interesting one, as aside from that loss at Washington, all of their losses were by a single goal. Where is gets even stranger is that three of the losses came with the other team scoring their goals on penalty kicks, and two other losses were they lost in 2OT. In other words, the 2016 Lobos were extremely close to being in the conversation as one of the all-time greatest Lobo teams, instead of “just” a very solid squad.

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The road is set for the Lobos (12-6-2) to make a run to the College Cup in Houston. Coming off the Conference USA Tournament Championship, the Lobos are clicking as a team at the perfect time and could be ready for an exciting NCAA Tournament. After a couple of bad weeks in the middle of the season, the Lobos have gone 5-0-2 in their last seven matches including 2-0-1 against NCAA Tournament teams. The Lobos have the talent to play with any team in the country, which gives them the possibility of making a run to the College Cup.

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The stage is set for the Conference USA Conference Men’s Soccer Tournament Championship, as the Lobos (11-6-2) has advanced to the final with an exciting 2-1 win over #1 seed Charlotte.  On the other side of the bracket FIU (10-6-2) advanced to the final with wins over #6 seed UAB and #7 seed ODU. In their win, the Lobos got production from their two leading scorers, with Chris Wehan scoring his 7^th goal of the season to give the Lobos a 1-0 lead early in the second half, and leading scorer Niko Hansen gave the Lobos a huge 2-0 lead with 20 minutes left in the match. The Lobo backline played great, aside from the one misplay that led to the Charlotte goal. The Lobos will need to get production from both Wehan Hansen, and their backline once again to seal their bid to the NCAA Tournament.

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The match of the day on the opening day of the Conference USA Tournament was, without question, the match between the Lobos (10-6-2) and Kentucky. The Lobos twice found themselves down a goal and twice were able to respond with an equalizer within a couple of minutes. The Lobos were able to get goals from Sam Gleadle and Nick Rochowski to end the match in a 2-2 draw. Since it was in tournament play, it went to the always-tense penalty shootout. Coach Fishbein put in backup goalie and PK specialist Ford Parker for the shootout. What Parker ended up doing is one of the most impressive feats I have seen, saving 4 of the 5 attempts and allowing the Lobos to win the shootout 2-1 to advance to the semifinals. It is strange to say that the man of the match was someone that didn’t actually play a second of the match.

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The Lobos (10-6-1, 4-3-1) head to Huntington, West Virginia for the Conference USA Soccer Tournament. In the seven team field, the Lobos are the #5 seed and will face Kentucky in the first round. The Lobos are in a situation where they could not make the NCAA tournament at all or could even get a national seed if they are able to win the tournament. As we have seen in the past with seeding, the Lobos can’t leave anything in the hands of the selection committee and must play this tournament like it is their last match of the season. There are two very good wins available for the Lobos in the first two rounds of the tournament, so they have a great chance to improve their resume.

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