Up Next: The 12th-ranked University of New Mexico men's soccer team returns home this weekend for a match against the UNLV Rebels. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. (M.D.T.) on Saturday Oct. 21 at the UNM Soccer Complex. The Lobos-Rebels match is the second game of a double-header Saturday with the UNM women's taking on BYU at 5:00 p.m. in the first match.

The Lobos are currently in second place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings with a 4-1-0 record in league play, 9-3-2 overall. Denver leads the conference with a 5-0-0 mark and is 9-3-1 overall. The rest of the league is rounded out by San Jose State (6-6-1, 3-2-0 MPSF), Sacramento State (5-9-0, 2-3-0) Air Force (2-10-1, 1-4-0 MPSF) and UNLV (0-11-2, 0-5-0).

New Mexico has dominated the series with UNLV in recent years, having outscored the Rebels 15-3 in last three games in the series. The Lobos have won the last five matches against UNLV and hold a 21-3 advantage in goals scored over the last three years. UNLV is one of just three teams to defeat the Lobos at home under current head coach Jeremy Fishbein. The Rebels scored a 2-0 win at the UNM Soccer Complex on Oct. 18, 2003.

Last season, the Lobos won a 7-2 decision at home against UNLV on Oct. 22. Andrew Boyens scored a goal and Brandon Barklage had an assist in that match. The seven goals were the most by a Lobo team in over 11 years.

Lobos Drop UNLV 4-1: The University of New Mexico men's soccer defeated UNLV 4-1 in Las Vegas, Nev., in its only action last weekend. New Mexico got goals from freshman Stephen Brown, sophomore Jack Smithson, junior Blake Danaher and senior Andrew Boyens.

Fishbein's 100th Game as a Lobo: UNM head coach Jeremy Fishbein will coach his 100th game at the University of New Mexico against UNLV this weekend. He has posted a 70-19-10 (.758) mark in over four years at UNM. Fishbein has a career record of 165-79-20 (.663) in over 13 years as a head coach.

Wright Leads the MPSF in Points: Sophomore Chris Wright scored two goals in the 2-0 win over San Jose State last weekend. The 6-4 forward now has 10 points off four goals and two assists on the year. He is currently leading the MPSF in points and is second in goals scored. The two strikes against San Jose State gave Wright his second multi-goal game of his career.

Graczyk Leads a Stingy Defense: Fourteen games into the 2006 season, the Lobos have already posted seven shutouts. The Lobo defense not only leads the league with its 0.62 goals-against-averaged, but it is also ranked 11th in the nation in goals allowed and 19th in the country in shutouts. Junior keeper Mike Graczyk also leads the MPSF and is 112th in the NCAA in both shutouts (7) and g.a.a. (0.62) having played every minute in goal for New Mexico. Graczyk is the only Lobo to be on the field every minute of every game for UNM this season.

Take your best Shot: The Lobo defense is not only stingy when giving up goals, it doesn't give up many shots either. Over the last four games, UNM's backline has not allowed more than seven shots in a game, giving up less than six shots per match in that stretch.

Tierney Helping Out: Freshman defender Zach Tierney leads the team and is third in the MPSF with five assists on the year. The former high school All American has started 13 of 14 games in the backline and leads all of the field players in minutes played.

Lobos in the Rankings: UNM is currently No. 12 in this week's Soccer America Top-25 and CollegeSoccerNews.com Top-30, No. 14 in the Soccer Times top-25 and 25th in the NSCAA Top-25. The Lobos have been ranked for 35 consecutive weeks, dating back to the start of the 2004 season.

Loeseth Attending to Family Illness: Senior defender Lars Loeseth had to abruptly return to his home in Oslo, Norway, on Oct. 4 to attend to a family illness. He missed both games last weekend and will likely not be back for the next few weeks. Loeseth started 11 games in the back so far this season and has recorded a goal and an assist. He is a two-sport star and is a three-time All-American member of the Lobo ski team.

Ejdemyr Getting Noticed: Freshman defender Simon Ejdemyr has made a big impact on the Lobo backline early in his career. His strong play has helped New Mexico record seven shutouts on the year and a 0.62 g.a.a., ranking 11th in the NCAA. He was named the MPSF Player of the Week and was on Soccer America's National Team of the Week for his efforts against SMU and Tulsa in Week 4. Ejdemyr's emergence as a dependable stopper has allowed senior defender Andrew Boyens to periodically join the attack in the Lobo midfield.

UNM Against NO. 1: The Lobos scored a 1-1 tie against SMU at the UNM Soccer Complex on Sept. 15 in the TLC Plumbing & Utility Invitational. UNM faced a top-ranked team for the fourth straight season after facing the Mustangs in a hard fought draw. Here is a look at UNM's games against No. 1 ranked foes: SMU • L, 0-2 • Nov. 25, 2001 • NCAA Tournament 2nd Round • Dallas, Texas UCLA • L, 0-1 • Oct. 9, 2003 • Los Angeles, Calif. Indiana • W, 1-0 (2OT) • Sept. 19, 2004 • Albuquerque, N.M. Maryland • L, 0-1 • Dec. 11, 2005 • NCAA College Cup Finals • Cary, N.C. SMU • T, 1-1 • Sept. 15, 2006 • Albuquerque, N.M.

Boyens Named to Hermann Watch List: Senior All-American Andrew Boyens is one of 25 players named to the 2006 MAC Hermann trophy Watch List. The Hermann trophy is the top honor for Division I college soccer. Boyens is just the second Lobo to be nominated for the Hermann. Jeff Rowland was a finalist in 2005. Boyens was also named 1st Team Preseason All-American by CollegeSoccerNews.com and a preseason All-American by Soccer America magazine. So far this season he has two goals and three assists from the backline.

Non-Conference Home Unbeaten Streak Snapped: UNM's 2-0 loss to No. 10 UCLA last week marked the first time the Lobos lost a non-conference home game under head coach Jeremy Fishbein, posting an 12-1-2 record over the last four years at home. The previous non-conference loss at home was a 2-1 setback against Air Force in a non-MPSF match on October 7, 2001, in Klaus Weber's final year as head coach.

New Mexico Picked to Win MPSF Title...Again: For the fourth consecutive year, the 2005 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Champion University of New Mexico Lobos sit atop the MPSF Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches' Poll, capturing five of the six first-place votes to outpace Sacramento State and San Jose State who tied for second with 19 points each as the Hornets garnered the remaining first-place vote. Denver finished fourth in the poll, followed by Air Force in fifth-place and UNLV taking the sixth-spot. The MPSF will determine the Federation champion and NCAA automatic qualifier after a 10-match double-round robin league schedule with the MPSF champion being the team with the best conference record after the final conference matches on Sunday, November 5.

Undefeated Non-Conference Streak Broken: With a 1-0 loss at Michigan State in week 2, the Lobos snapped their 15-match non-conference undefeated streak. UNM posted an 8-0-0 record in regular season non-conference action in 2005. It was the second straight year the Lobos went undefeated and untied in out-of-conference play. In 2004, New Mexico recorded a 6-0-0 record before the start of MSPF action. Over the last two years, UNM has defeated the likes of No. 1 Indiana (1-0 on 9/19/04), at No. 13 VCU (2-1 on 9/5/04), at No. 18 Ohio State (1-0 on 9/4/05), and No. 23 Penn State (2-0 on 9/2/05). The last time UNM had lost a non-conference game prior to this weekend was at No. 20 UC-Santa Barbara on October 12, 2003.

Reed Out for The Season: Freshman All-American and 2005 New Mexico Player of the Year Michael Reed suffered a knee injury during practice prior to the Lobos' season opener against Portland and will be out for the rest of the season. Reed was expected to be an impact player, starting the Fort Lewis exhibition game in the midfield.

Home Field Advantage: New Mexico finished the 2005 season with an 8-1-1 record at the UNM Soccer Complex and a 6-1-1 at home in 2006. The Lobos are now 37-3-4 at home in the last five years under head coach Jeremy Fishbein. The 3-2, overtime loss to San Jose State on Oct. 16 snapped a 14-match home winning streak, the longest in school history.

New NCAA Attendance Mark Set: Fans packed the UNM Soccer Complex for three rounds of the 2005 NCAA Tournament, setting record attendance marks in each game. Against Wisconsin-Milwaukee 4,552 fans spun the turnstiles, while a UNM Soccer Complex record 4,849 attended the Lobos' 1-0, overtime win over Cal-State Northridge. That record lasted less than a week after a sellout crowd of 5,600 attended the Lobos' 1-0 win over Cal in the quarterfinals. UNM's record for attendance in a single home game is still 7,449 for a 2-0 loss to No. 4 UCLA on Sept. 23, 1989, however, that game was played in University Stadium. The Lobos drew over 4,000 fans five times in 2005, averaging an NCAA record 3,629 fans per game.

Fishbein Adds Two More Honors to His Resume: Lobo head coach Jeremy Fishbein added to his list of accomplishments with the 2005 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation co-Coach of the Year and the Far West Region Coach of the year honors. Fishbein was also the 2002 MPSF Coach of the Year and the 2004 Soccer America National Coach of the Year.

Fishbein Inducted Into the FLC Athletic Hall of Fame: University of New Mexico men's soccer coach Jeremy Fishbein was inducted into the Fort Lewis College Athletic Hall of Fame on Aug. 19, in Durango, Colo. In seven seasons at Fort Lewis (1992-98), Fishbein's teams posted a 74-47-7 record (.605) and won four league championships -- two in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (1997, 1998) and two in the Colorado Athletic Conference (1993, 1995). He also guided the Skyhawks to their first two NCAA Division II playoff trips (1997, 1998).
Two other Lobo coaches are already in the Fort Lewis College Athletic Hall of Fame. UNM assistant men's soccer coach Luc Cisna was a two-time All-American at FLC and a 2005 inductee. Lobo women's basketball head coach in a Fort Lewis alum and a 2003 inductee.

Loeseth Making a Mark on Lobo Athletics: Senior midfielder Lars Loeseth accomplished a rare feat in 2005, two NCAA runner-up trophies in two different sports in the same year. Not only was he a part of the Lobo soccer team's amazing run in 2005, he also was an All-American member of the second place UNM ski team in 2006. The Olso, Norway, native came to UNM in 2004 as a member of the Lobo Ski Team. He led New Mexico to the 2004 NCAA Skiing Championship, the school's only NCAA title in any sport, behind All-American performances in the Slalom and Giant Slalom events. Loeseth trained with the soccer squad in the 2005 spring semester. He was so impressive that he was put on a soccer scholarship for the 2005-06 school year. The three-time All-American has been a part of three of the four most successful teams in school history.