The DU men’s soccer team’s season came to an end this past weekend, as they lost to the University of New Mexico Lobos 3-0 in Albuquerque, N.M.

If the Pioneers would have either beaten or tied the Lobos last Sunday, they would have earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Men’s College Cup.

Sunday’s game was a tightly fought match, despite the uneven score.

The Lobos struck early on the Pioneers when Chris Wright of UNM headed in a throw-in from teammate Justin Davis in the match’s third minute.

The game remained close for the rest of the first half, as the Lobos outshot the Pioneers by a close 6-3 margin.

It wasn’t until late in the second half that the Lobos put the game out of reach for DU.

At the 68:51 mark, UNM increased their lead to 2-0 when Stephen Brown snuck a shot past Pioneer goalie Matt Bredehoft.

Then Wright finished off the scoring wiht his second goal of the game at 75th minute. It was Wright’s third point of the game.

The Pioneers were outshot 12-7 for the game, while only getting two shots on goal.

The loss dropped the Pioneers’ record to 11-5-2 overall and 7-2-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

Although the season ended on a low note, the Pioneers did have a remarkable season.

At one point this season, the Pioneers had an impressive eight-game winning streak, the longest for any DU team since 1997 and were named the College Soccer News National Team of the Week during that stretch.

The Pioneers were also able to climb as high as 15th in the national rankings by Soccer America.

DU had three players earn individual recognition this season as well.

Sophomore team captain Joey Mathot and junior defender Josh Fallin both earned the MPSF Player of the Week Award during the season.

Also, freshman goalkeeper Joe Willis was named to the U.S. Under-20 National Team.

The Pioneers will look to build on this strong season when they return to action next fall.

DU will lose only five seniors but returning a core of young players who were instrumental in this year’s success.