Senior Alex Chi and his teammates will cross the country to take on a pair of West Coast opponents this weekend, as No. 6 Harvard heads to the Lobo Classic to face UC Santa Barbara and New Mexico.

For the first time in three years, the No. 6 Harvard men’s soccer team is heading west, but to get back there, the team’s senior class has had to go full circle.

The Crimson will participate in the Lobo Classic in Albuquerque, N.M., this weekend, where it will face UC Santa Barbara tonight and New Mexico Sunday afternoon on the Lobos’ home turf.

It will be the first time since 2007 that Harvard plays at a school not located on the East Coast. Its most recent game out west came against the Gauchos as well and ended in a 1-1 tie.

Harvard had also entered that match ranked No. 6 in the country. Current seniors Robert Millock, Alex Chi, and Jaren LaGreca all saw action as freshmen.

“Last time we played them they were coming off a national championship,” Millock–now a co-captain with LaGreca–remembers. “For Chi, Jaren, and myself, it was our first time playing a top-10 team in college. I just remember it was a very good game; they were an all-around good team.”

While the Crimson (2-0-1) has gotten off to a strong start so far this season–moving up four spots from its preseason ranking with a win over then-No. 13 Stanford and a tie against No. 8 Connecticut–the Gauchos (0-2-2) have moved in the opposite direction.

After entering the year ranked two spots above Harvard at No. 8 in the country, Santa Barbara has gone its first four games without a win, losing to Cal State Bakersfield and No. 16 Creighton, while tying New Mexico and Davidson.

The Gauchos’ major struggles have been offensive, due to the loss of former leading scorer David Walker to graduation. The team only has scored three goals the entire year, led by sophomore forward Sam Garza’s two. Junior forward Danny Barrera–the team’s assist leader last year, also third on the team with five goals–has taken 11 shots this year but has yet to score.

Harvard will be looking to increase its own pressure on Santa Barbara senior goalie Sam Hayden, whose 1.11 goals against average is up from his 2009 average of 0.74.

The Crimson has never before faced the Lobos (3-1-1), but Harvard coach Carl Junot coached New Mexico for six years and was the assistant director of the Lobo Soccer Academy before joining the Crimson.

“Potentially I know the type of soccer the Lobos like to play, and from just coaching here at New Mexico I’ve been able to see the Santa Barbara team play several times,” Junot said. “I feel as a coach I’m very comfortable with the playing style.”

Junot said that facing his former team doesn’t provide him with any extra motivation to win.

“My energy and motivation is based on the fact that we’re in the midst of a very good season with our Harvard team,” he said. “That’s our primary motivation; it doesn’t have as much to do with our opponents.”

New Mexico has been better offensively than the Gauchos, scoring 10 goals in its five games this season, with its only loss coming against No. 15 Portland.

The Lobo offense is paced by junior midfielder Lance Rozeboom and sophomore forward Levi Rossi, both of whom have two goals on the year. They and their teammates will be looking to keep the pressure up on Harvard goalkeeper Austin Harms, who has gotten off to a good start against tough competition early in the season.

“Three of the four goals we’ve given up have been off of set pieces,” Junot said. “We’ve asked Austin to continue improving his organizing of the defense, limiting the number of free kicks we give up, and to focus on his positioning and his individual efforts when other teams get free kick opportunities.”

In net for the Lobos will be sophomore Justin Holmes, who sports just a .455 save percentage on the year.

The Crimson attack is led by sophomore forward Brian Rogers, who has a team-leading two goals on the season. All of Harvard’s scoring on the season, in fact, has come from underclassmen. Sophomores Scott Prozeller and Zack Wolfenzon and freshman Ross Friedman have all scored one goal for the Crimson thus far.

In terms of shot differential, both Santa Barbara (56-39) and New Mexico (65-25) have led opponents by a wide margin this season. Harvard, in contrast, has been outshot 47-38 by its opponents.

Coming off a tie against the Huskies in which it was outshot 25-6, and facing a pair of teams which like to attack, the Crimson defense will need to be at the top of its game.

“If you’re allowing shots, it’s not an issue; it only becomes an issue when you’re allowing good scoring chances,” Millock said. “I think we’ve done a good job limiting opponents chances [this season].”

Despite the fact that neither UC Santa Barbara nor New Mexico is nationally ranked (both received two points in the most recent NSCAA poll), Harvard knows it can’t take either squad lightly. Like the Crimson, both schools reached the NCAA Tournament in 2009, with the Gauchos losing in the Sweet 16 and the Lobos falling in the opening round.

“[Underestimation] shouldn’t be an issue,” Millock said. “I think we all understand that any team can beat any other team on any given day. We’re just trying to focus and concentrate on ourselves.”

—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.