Albuquerque Journal from Albuquerque, New Mexico • Page 16

B6 Albuquerque Journal Monday, June 3, 2013 By Ed Johnson Assistant Sports Editor randon Moss and Nick Miele will arrive at next Lobo soccer camp from different directions. Moss is a former Classic FC Bandido, ex-Lobo, former professional player and current UNM assistant. Miele is an ex- Classic FC Gladiator, former St. Pius star and current Lobo. Both are UNM soccer camp alums.

Both have come to understand the importance of the program in the soccer community. Fan of the Lobos As a kid growing up in Albuquerque, Brandon Moss used to toss around balls of socks, pretending to be a Lobo athlete. He loved watching Terance Mathis catch footballs at University Stadium and Luc Longley roam the floor of the Pit. always had it in my heart that ultimately one day, if the opportunity presented itself, that this is where I wanted to Moss says of UNM. The idea took firmer root when he went to a UNM soccer camp, guided by then-UNM coach Klaus Weber.

was an opportunity to be with my Bandido teammates in a different setting, away from our regular coaching Moss remembers. was in the summer when we could literally be dropped off in the morning and play all day in a competitive, fun He was thrilled to interact with Lobo standouts Mike Strati and Jason Hix. accelerated my interest to play soccer at the collegiate Moss says. He became part of Jeremy first recruiting class at UNM in 2002, and went on to start 83 games and play 7,507 minutes as a Lobo. He was part of the storied 2005 team which reached the NCAA championship game.

Moss remembers fondly visiting with fans at the rail after games, signing autographs, having his photo taken. a pretty unique opportunity only offered here at UNM and nowhere else in the Moss says. think fun for the kids to put a face and name together because of a previous interaction. not just, 9 is really good. No.

10 is really They really know the players out there. interacted with them. They can see themselves, much as I did with Jason Hix and Mike Strati, being that player at some point in the Moss, unlike teammates Jeff Rowland and Lance Watson, get an invitation to Major League combine until after run through the NCAA Tournament. me, it was all because of the success the team Moss says. thank my teammates enough for performing like they did, to put me in a position to excel on the individual level and make it as a professional Discovering UNM For Nick Miele, 6-foot-4, 190-pound junior defender, a pro career is only a dream for now.

Miele moved to Albuquerque from Indiana when he was 14, so he have the Lobo indoctrination that Moss had. knew they went to the national championship game in Miele says. other than that, I was unsure what the program was like, who ran it, what their identity was on the collegiate But, like Moss, he decided to attend a Lobo camp, forging a relationship with UNM. was very Miele remembers. made it easy on the players.

All you had to do was go out there and show them the abilities you His favorite memory was the all-star game. played against the current team which was out there playing for a national he says. see the pace with which they played, the physicality of the game, how mentally switched on they were and how fast they were able to move off the ball was something to Now Miele will be part of the camp staff. like the opportunity to give back to the Miele says. I also like the aspect of realizing the passion with which these players play.

that I am a college soccer player, and even though I still have aspirations to go to the next level and play professionally, cool to take a step back and look at some of the kids who are in the position you were. And thinking to yourself, this kid wants exactly what I wanted at that age. cool, because now you can help them get Back home professional career was brief. He was with the Columbus Crew from 2006-08 before a knee injury took him out. was a little he says of his pro experience.

felt going into it, I probably would be a 10-, 15-year player, that somehow I would retire off the money tht I was gonig to make. not the reality of soccer, especially here in the States. say close to 100 percent of the players who play in MLS have to go back and rely on some sort of education, some sort of means to provide for themselves outside of So it was with Moss. And it worked out that he could return to UNM as assistant, a job held since 2010. Part of his duties is to lead the community relations efforts.

pride I have for UNM, the pride I have for the city, the fact that my family lives here, my family lives here, there be a more perfect As for the camps, Moss says its gives kids a chance to experience what like to be a college soccer player. The camp includes coaches from all levels of the NCAA and players have earned col- lge offers because of the experience. But he says important for the staff to be honest in evaluating the kids. think every player who comes to our camp aspires to be on the (UNM) team, but the reality is that very few will ever make Moss says. Of course, Moss made it.

So did Miele. Future Lobos await their instructions. COMMUNITY EFFORT COURTESY OF UNM UNM assistant coach Brandon Moss, right, talks with members of the Lobo soccer team. Moss, a former Lobo who went on to play in the MLS, says he grew up a fan of UNM basketball, football and soccer. UNM SOCCER From Journal Wires WASHINGTON Too bad the U.S.

national soccer team bottle this attacking performance for more consequential endeavors in coming weeks. In a final test before three World Cup qualifiers, the Americans scored three outstanding goals and took advantage of a comical goal- keeping gaffe Sunday to defeat a young German squad, 4-3, in a wildly entertaining friendly before a sellout crowd of 47,359 at RFK Stadium. In an early three-minute span, Jozy Altidore volleyed his way out of a scoring funk and Marc-Andre ter Stegen misplayed a back pass for an own goal. After Germany scored early in the second half, Clint Dempsey tallied twice in four minutes to provide what appeared to be an emphatic send-off ahead of qualifier in Jamaica. However, Max Kruse and Julian Draxler struck in the 79th and 81st minutes for Germany, which was missing eight Bayern Munich stars and two Real Madrid standouts.

It was the U.S. first victory over Germany since 1999. U.S. WOMEN: In Toronto, Alex Morgan scored twice and Sydney Leroux added a goal to lead the United States over Canada 3-0 in their first meeting since the 4-3 overtime win in the semi- finals of last Olympics. Morgan scored for the top- ranked Americans in the 70th minute when she cut inside defender Emily Zurrer and from the top of the penalty area slotted past goalkeeper Erin McLeod.

Morgan scored from the same spot two minutes later, her 44th international goal. Last August, goal in the third and final minute of stoppage time in overtime sent the Americans to the gold- medal game, where the U.S. defeated Japan for its third straight gold medal. lineups included 15 of 22 starters from the semifinal. BRAZIL-ENGLAND: Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro reopened following lengthy renovations, with Paulinho scoring on an 82nd-minute volley to give Brazil a 2-2 tie against England in an exhibition Sunday.

Fred put the five-time world champions ahead in the 57th minute, and England took a 2-1 lead on goals by Alex Oxlade- Chamberlain in the 67th and Wayne Rooney in the 79th. About 66,000 fans attended the match at Maracana, which had closed for reconstruction in September 2010. The work, estimated to cost up to $1 billion, turned the stadium into a venue with a capacity of about 79,000. Maracana was site of loss to Uruguay in the final game of the 1950 World Cup. U.S.

men stop Germany; women blank Canada SOCCER NOTES Ex-Lobo Moss, current Lobo Miele enjoy working with kids COURTESY OF UNM Lobo Nick Miele coaches kids at soccer academy last year. Miele says cool to help the younger players. Lobo soccer academy July 7-11: High school team residential program, boys entering grades 8-12 July 8-11, July 15-18: (full day)Lobo developmental program, boys ages 10-14 July 8-11, July 15-18: (half day)Junior Lobo developmental program, boys and girls ages 5-9 July 14-17: Residential elite program, boys entering 10th grade-freshman in college July 19-21: Residential junior elite program, boys in 7th-9th grades For more information, call 505-925-1558. From Journal Wires MILWAUKEE There is a younger generation of NFL fans who are aware of Vince Lombardi as the guy whose name is on the Super Bowl trophy. Or he might be the guy whose statue they show on national television when the Green Bay Packers play at Lambeau Field.

The tundra guy. that gap-toothed dude from way, way back when, you know, before the iPhone even. So as much as fans of the Packers are aware, perhaps too aware, of the Lombardi legacy, younger fans are not. Lombardi died almost 43 years ago. His 100th birthday is June 11.

Because of that birthday, and because ESPN is airing a countdown series, Coaches in NFL the network is to air a one-hour special, on Thursday. It will re-air June 11 on ESPN2. On June 11, birthday, ESPN.com will disclose the coach who was voted the greatest in NFL history by panel of analysts and commentators. (Pssst. tell anyone, but a certain Block of Granite has a real fighting chance of finishing first in that vote).

ESPN senior coordinating producer Seth Markman, who oversees the NFL studio shows, was asked if it was daunting to re-examine Lombardi, one of the more examined figures in sports. have seen a lot of success with projects and documentaries here at the network, for might be the best Markman said. are talking to a young audience now that may not be aware of everything that a guy like Vince Lombardi accomplished, what he stood for and really how important he is to what modern-day football has become. I think some of it is just education, going back and reliving a lot of those Markman said. we get older we forget how young this group of TV viewers are.

We like going back in history and putting this all in 49ERS: San Francisco has agreed to terms with Eric Mangini to be an offensive consultant for the NFC champions, The former Cleveland Browns and New York Jets coach will work on Jim staff. SEAHAWKS: Wide receiver Jermaine Kearse had Lasik eye surgery in February and says the difference is noticeable. really drop the ball as much He said surgery helped a lot. I have to deal with my contacts being all Kearse played without contacts because he found them so bothersome. He says he now has 20-15 vision and finds himself seeing things he in years.

NFL NOTES ESPN to air Lombardi doc Mangini agrees to terms with 49ers particularly the War Room camera during the draft. Overall, the Cowboys had first-round grades on only 18 players. This follows what most NFL teams were saying. The Cowboys traded out, of course, of No. 18 and went down to No.

31 in the first round, picking up only a third-rounder in the deal. They get enough, many said, but what they did with the picks: Taken at No. 31 in the first round was center Travis Frederick. The Cowboys had him at No. 22 on their board.

a board bargain, at least based on the ranking. Taken in the second round was tight end Gavin Escobar. The Cowboys had him at No. 25. A board bargain.

The Cowboys got him at 47. Taken in the third round with the 49ers pick was receiver Terrance Williams. A huge board bargain. The Cowboys had him at No. 23 and got him at 74.

The other third-round pick was safety J.J. Wilcox. The Cowboys had him at No. 50 and got him at No. 80.

All of this can be called to the what Jerry was attempting to tell us. On the board, Florida defensive lineman Sharrif Floyd was No. 5. He was still there at No. 18 when the Cowboys traded out.

What the heck? The info inside Valley Ranch says the two new defensive honchos, Monte Kiffin and Rod Marinelli, think Floyd was a scheme fit. They nixed him. It be emphasized enough about how the wise guys from the 49ers wanted the No. 18 pick to take LSU safety Eric Reid. Safety is a position of need for the Cowboys, who had Reid at No.

24 on their board. Guys like Reid and Floyd will be interesting to watch in their careers, as will tight end Tyler Eifert (No. 15 on the Valley Ranch board), whom the Cowboys could have had if they stayed at 18. But the first three players the Cowboys did take (Frederick, Escobar and Williams) were all strong board selections. But a defensive, jittery Jerry did tell us all this five weeks ago.

Based on the info of last week, he was being honest. Jones, it seems, has been telling truth from PAGE B1 SATURDAY TrainingClasses ALLADVERTISEDITEMSINSTOCK ENTER TOWIN TO WIN BenelliNova 12Ga.pump Shotgun (CourtesyofBenelli) ConcealedCarry Handbag (CourtesyofGun Mustbepresenttowin. Drawingat4pm Carr Carr Beretta 92FS (CourtesyofBerettaUSA) pump Benelli) (Courtesy (Courtesy (Courtesy OR GREATSELECTION OFAMMO 11215CentralAve.NE•Albuquerque,NM87123 505-508-5830.