University of New Mexico

Head coach Mike McGinty says that while the result of an exhibition game is important, the real importance of an exhibition game is the high-level training it provides for the regular season.
Once the regular season starts, at the University of New Mexico on Wednesday, Sept. 1, the Billikens will begin their attack on a litany of ambitious goals.
“We have goals in our locker room that we look at every day: we want to be the national champion; we want to be the regular-season Atlantic 10 champion; and we want to be the conference tournament champion,” McGinty said.
“So those are things we put out there that are definitely tangible goals, and we’re trying to figure out the best way to get there.”
The Billikens’ many goals for this season form a sort of pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid are character-related qualities, such as discipline and teamwork. These characteristics provide the foundation for the higher-order goals, such as the conference championship and the NCAA championship.
On Aug. 9, the head coaches of all the men’s soccer teams in the A-10 picked SLU to win the conference.Senior James Dice says that more is expected of the players on the men’s soccer team, both on and off the field.“In training, we’re more structured; we’re more organized,” Dice said. “The intensity has gone up a lot since [McGinty’s] arrival in spring. People are a lot more accountable for things they do on and off the field. Responsibility for the older guys is there.”