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Friday, October 10, 2008

UNM Languishing With .500 Record

By Glen Rosales
For the Journal
       Throughout his career in youth soccer, Stephen Brown was a player who was moved around the field.
    Even during his time with the University of New Mexico, Brown has been versatile; playing midfield as a freshman and defender as a sophomore last season.
    But with the underachieving Lobos struggling with injuries, red-card absences and illnesses, Brown this season has seen his role change almost from match to match.
    "He can play pretty much anywhere on the field, almost to a fault," said UNM coach Jeremy Fishbein. "He's a talented player."
    Recently, Brown has taken on more of an offensive role, one that he relishes. He's tied for third on the team with six points on two goals and two assists, one point behind leaders Chris Wright and Jack Smithson.
    "I've had more of an attacking position," Brown said. "I've always played everywhere on the field. I'll do whatever it takes to help the team win. But it's always been my strength to play everywhere."
    There hasn't always been enough of that attitude with year's edition of the Lobos, Fishbein said. "This is absolutely the most frustrating season. This is a good team. We showed it against (No. 2) Akron. I've felt good about this team all year long. Our guys are good and confident to a fault."
    Problems still arise at inopportune times, however.
    "We need to have better discipline at times," Fishbein said. "We have to play smarter."
    New Mexico probably has the largest collection of individual talent in the program's history. Yet sometimes individual play hinders the Lobos (4-4-2, 1-1 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation).
    "This is definitely the most-skillful team since I've been here," Brown said. "There's a lot of great players on this team. It's very fun to play with so many great guys. But we still have to figure out our team chemistry."
    Yet Brown thinks the team is about ready to break out despite the up-and-down play to this point.
    "It's been frustrating," he said. "We had a lot of expectations going into the year. We're not playing to the level that we can and we're not getting the results that we believe we deserve. But nobody on this team believes the season is over us."
    This weekend's home games against San Jose State (4-2-3, 0-1) and Sacramento State (6-2-1, 1-0) will be key for the Lobos, who are a game behind perennial rival Denver in the loss column after losing to the Pioneers last weekend on the road.
    "This weekend is going to determine the conference for us," Fishbein said. "We've got to get our fans back behind us."
    The Lobos still have a positive frame of mind, Brown said.
    "I don't think we're playing that badly," he said. "It's just a matter of winning and getting results. We've just been unlucky. Right now, we're .500 and 1-1 in conference. We know that we have a great opportunity ahead of us. We just have to play well in the conference."
    MEN'S SOCCER
       

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