Friday Night is Senior Night and the final home match of the 2015 Lobo Men’s Soccer season. This also has ended up being a match that will decide whether or not the Lobos will make the Conference USA Tournament. It is real simple for the Lobos: win and you’re in, so their fate is completely in their hands. FAU right now is in last place in the conference, but they have plenty to play for, as if they win they also have a shot to make the tournament. I believe that we will see the good Lobos side tonight, which should equate to a comfortable win. The Lobos must start of this match with energy and find a first half goal to set the tone for the game, something they’ve only done in two matches this season.
Quest for a Bowl Game: Home Stretch
After taking a week off for the bye, we’re back to looking at the Lobo’s path to bowl eligibility. The loss to San Jose State certainly didn’t help things, but the team still feel okay about their situation, needing to pick up just two wins in their final four games, three of which are at home. The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for the team, as it gave them a chance to get healed and rested as they enter the toughest part of their schedule.
Men’s Basketball vs. Rogers State Preview
After a not-as-comfortable-as-we-hoped win against CSU-Pueblo, the Lobos return to action Friday for another exhibition game, this time against Rogers State. The D-II Hillcats are coming off of a game against future UNM opponent Oral Roberts where they hung tight with the Golden Eagles for most of the game before eventually falling 82-74, meaning that the Lobos weren’t the only ones with a less-than-stellar opener against a lower division team. That also means that the Lobos need to be ready, as the Hillcats are going to come in thinking that they can pull out a victory.
Women’s Soccer: MW Tournament Update and SJSU Match Preview
A 2-0 win for the #3 seed Lobos over the #6 seed UNLV sets up Thursday’s semifinal match against #2 seed SJSU. On the other side of the bracket, #5 seed Colorado College won a 1-0 match against #4 seed Wyoming to set up the other semifinal against host and #1 seed SDSU. The semifinals will take place Thursday evening with the UNM vs. SJSU as the first match followed by Colorado College vs. SDSU. Lobos suffered a 2-1 home loss against SJSU in the regular season, which ultimately ended up being the difference between the two teams in the standings.
Men’s Basketball vs. CSU Pueblo Game Thoughts
Lobo Men’s Basketball kicked off their season with an exhibition against CSU-Pueblo in a game the Lobos ended up winning 96-84. Exhibitions are always hard to really take anything out of for a few reasons such as different rotations, no scouting, and different styles of play. I won’t focus too much on the actual game, but instead focus on some observations that I picked up on during the game.
Women’s Basketball vs. WNMU Game Preview
After being nice and allowing the men’s team to play their exhibition first, the Lady Lobos start their season tonight with an exhibition game against Western New Mexico. This is the first time these two teams have ever played, which is kind of amazing in its own right, so we’ll be able to see something tonight that we’ve never seen before.
Women’s Soccer: MW Conference Tournament Preview
After a heartbreaking loss to SDSU in the regular season finale, the Lobos are the #3 seed in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, which starts today. This is a six-team field with the top 2 seeds getting first found byes, with games on Tuesday, Thursday, and the Championship match on Saturday. It is very simple for the Lobos, they must win the tournament to make the NCAA Tournament. That said, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if they were able to win this tournament, considering how well they have played on the road this season. SDSU is the favorite in this tournament, as they are both the #1 seed and host of the tournament and they have only lost one conference match this season. However, after SDSU it is a wide-open field.
Men’s Basketball vs. CSU-Pueblo Preview
There’s an old Rogers Hornsby quote that says, “People ask me what I do in the winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” In general, Lobo fans are exactly the same way about basketball. Finally, the window-staring is over, as the Lobos play in the Pit for the first time in almost eight months tomorrow in an exhibition game versus CSU-Pueblo.
Men’s Soccer At FIU Match Recap
The Lobos got a much-needed result on Saturday night in its match against #25 FIU. It was a very important result because it allowed the Lobos to keep the seven seed for the Conference USA tournament and, with only one match left at home against last place FAU on Friday, gives them the edge to make the tournament. I was glad to see that the Lobos picked up their play after the match against Charlotte and in a match that I didn’t know how Lobos would respond, the coaches and players came out and played a very good match to get another point in the standings.
Men’s Soccer at FIU Preview
UNM heads to Miami to take on FIU in an absolute must-win match for the Lobos, who are currently 7th in the conference standings and only the top 7 teams reach the Conference USA Tournament. The Lobos have to bring energy and passion from the first whistle, or they can be seeing their season come to a disappointing end for the second straight year. This won’t be an easy match for the Lobos, as they face a solid FIU side who are also looking to make the conference tournament. FIU won’t give the Lobos this game, so the Lobos have to earn it. The first twenty minutes will tell us which Lobos side showed up. If it is the team from the first half of the season, they will probably win this match. However, if it is the team that has been playing since conference play started, the Lobos will be in trouble. I expect we will see some lineup changes in hope that it will bring new energy to the pitch.