Regional Soccer Successes and Struggles

[Right: Seniors Paul Dailey and Alejandro Gauana following their last game at the NIRSA Regional Tournament in Las Cruces. The NMT Miners lost a tough battle against NMSU (0-1), knocking them out in the first round of their first ever appearance in the post-season tournament. The UTEP Miners went on to win the tournament, and the invitation to the National Championship tournament. Dailey and Gauna have been long-time and active members of the Tech soccer club.]

SOCORRO, N.M., Dec. 21, 2005 – University of New Mexico Lobos reach the final game in the NCAA Division I men’s championship tournament! Ft. Lewis College Skyhawks win the NCAA D-II national championship! New Mexico Tech Miners win the NIRSA collegiate club soccer national championship! Well…two out of three ain’t bad.

Although the last in the list may still be a dream, Men’s (and Women’s) soccer in this region of the country has experienced tremendous growth and success.

Ranked number one in the nation for much of the fall season, the #2 seeded UNM Lobos (15-1-2 regular season) met the number one seed, Maryland, in the finals of the NCAA D-I tournament. Unfortunately, the Lobos lost the battle, giving up just one goal on a freekick, and missing a penalty kick opportunity to tie in the 2nd half. But getting to that final game was a tremendous feat, beating formidable teams Wisconsin, Cal State, California and Clemson.

The Skyhawks of Ft. Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, dominated the D-II ranks, going undefeated with a 18-0-1 record. They trounced their opponents in the championship tournament scoring 13 goals in four games, and beating Franklin-Pierce College (New Hampshire) by a score of 3-1 in the final. We (the NMT Miners) had the opportunity to watch the Skyhawks outplay previous national champ Colorado State following our bout with the Ft. Lewis Club team. Thoroughly impressed, we predicted at that point that the Skyhawks would go all the way.

As for the NMT Miners, departing club president and team captain Paul Dailey proudly pronounced at a recent graduation gathering, “We beat the B-team of the national champs!”. He was referring to the game on October 9 of this year, when the Miners beat the Ft. Lewis club team 2-1 here in Socorro. That same weekend, the soccer Techies fought for their first-ever tie (2-2) with the NMSU Aggies. Another milestone was the Miners’ first-ever appearance in the NIRSA regional tournament, in which they lost their last fight to NMSU, 1-0. The Miners have shown much improvement over the past three seasons in the collegiate club circuit, but they have a lot more work to do before they can hope to be invited to the champions bracket of the NIRSA national championship tournament.

No doubt, recent growth and success of nearby collegiate programs has been largely a result of improvements in New Mexico high school and youth organizations. On the Lobos squad, Jeff Rowland, a non-recruited walk-on from La Cueva High School, led the Lobos with 36 points in 2005 and is the only player in the nation to earn first team All-American NSCAA honors the past two seasons. Over one third of the 2005 Lobo squad were New Mexico sons.

The varsity team from tiny Sandia Preparatory High School in Albuquerque was impressive. Not only did they win the class 3-A state championship, but during the regular season they beat 5-A powerhouse squads like Sandia High, La Cueva and Eldorado, earning national recognition as the 4th ranked high school team in the entire United States. It’s also interesting to note that Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, came close to winning the NCAA D-III title and that Trinity’s top goal/assist player was a freshman from Sandia Prep.

With all of this (national) success, one might expect soccer to be front-page news in New Mexico. Instead, as the Lobos were fighting through the championship bracket, Rocky Long gets the front-page coverage because he has a hangnail and he’s not sure that the football team will get a bowl game bid with their mediocre record. (Or something to that effect). I was pleasantly surprised last week when I heard Jeremy Fishbein, the successful head coach of the Lobo soccer team, being interviewed on KKOB sports talk radio, along with athletic director Rudy Davalos. I was ready to call in to congratulate him on a job well done, but before I could pick up the phone, Fishbein was gone and Rudy was off talking about the Lady Lobo basketball team and their game against ASU a year ago!

And then of course there is our governor’s recent meeting with the NFL commissioner. Paraphrasing fellow faculty member Ken Minschwaner, “What about playing to our strength, and getting an MLS (Major League Soccer) franchise?”

Why is it that soccer enthusiasts need to struggle to find out what’s going on in the soccer world? Apparently it was standing-room-only at any establishment in Albuquerque showing the UNM-Maryland championship game on a pay-per-view network. And why is it that the only collegiate varsity soccer teams in the state are at UNM, College of the Southwest (Hobbs), and (a newly formed NCAA team) at Eastern New Mexico? The rest of the schools are left to organize self-sufficient club teams, while (mediocre at best) football teams command untold dollars to run. I am starting to dream up conspiracy theories wherein mainstream media, public leaders and athletic directors are working to keep the most popular sport in the world under wraps in the United States. Or is it just a theory?

Next summer, the United States men’s national team will be competing in the largest sporting event on earth – the FIFA World Cup in Germany. This will undoubtedly generate even more excitement and passion among soccer players in this country and this state. Increasing numbers of young people will seek to continue their competitive soccer pastime into their adult lives. The Tech Miners hope to recruit some of these student-athletes to help in the pursuit of that “Cinderella story” season where they “mighty duck” their division one university opponents.