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Top-25 Victory For The Rebels At Tulsa

Rebels are a perfect 3-0 this season and have outscored their opponents by an 8-1 margin

TULSA, Oklahoma (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV men’s soccer claimed its first ranked victim of the season Friday night, knocking off #23/15 Tulsa 1-0 on the road at Hurricane Stadium. The Rebels moved to 3-0 with the victory, while earning their third win over the past two years against a ranked opponent.
 
Thanks to a stellar defensive performance, the Rebels were able to push the attack on the Hurricanes for the majority of the night. Following the UNLV goal in the 60th minute, the Rebels switched their tactics to a defensive mode, and were able to withstand the 11 Tulsa shots in the second half to claim the shutout victory.
REBEL OF THE GAME: Sophomore Marco Gonzalez scored the game-winner for the Rebels, his second in as many games and his fourth goal in the past two games, which leads the WAC. He would finish off a pass into the box from 12 yards out, with Bay Kurtz and Tyler Allen both receiving credit for an assist.
THE TURNING POINT: Tulsa quickly attempted two shots right at the start in the opening two minutes. The Hurricanes were then held without a shot attempt the rest of the opening half, and UNLV was able to take the attack to the host team. The Rebels took seven shots against Tulsa in the first half, forcing Hurricane goalkeeper Cooper Clark to make three saves. The momentum stayed with UNLV coming out of the halftime break, leading to the game-winning score.
STAT OF THE GAME: The Rebels held a 6-2 edge on shots on goal for the night. Overall UNLV outshot the Hurricanes 15-13.
QUOTABLE:
“It was a great road win tonight. It’s always fantastic to get a chance to play a highly talented team on the road and to face that challenge, and for us to come out here and come away with the victory is huge for our team. The players trusted the game plan and we couldn’t be more excited with tonight’s result. We have to learn how to win on the road if we want to make the postseason, and this is just one of the many steps along with way. Now it’s important for us to regroup and be ready to play on Sunday.”
– UNLV Head Coach Rich Ryerson
REBEL NOTES: 
* Gonzalez has nine points for the season (four goals, one assist) through four games, after posting 18 total points his freshman season.
* Through three games, the Rebels have allowed just five total shots on goal in 270 minutes of action.
* UNLV has outscored its opponents by an 8-1 margin this season.
* UNLV has started the season 3-0 for the first time since the 2014 squad won its first five of the year.
* This is UNLV’s third win over a ranked team in the past two years, after knocking off #15 Portland and #23 Seattle a year ago.

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV remains in Tulsa to take on the Oral Roberts Eagles Sunday, Sept. 2 at 3 pm.

Offense Gets Back On Track In 3-1 Win At CSUN

UNLV scores three first-half goals to defeat Cal State Northridge Thursday night

NORTHRIDGE, California (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV women’s soccer concluded its three-game road stretch with a dominant 3-1 win over CSUN in Northridge, California, Thursday night. The Rebels used three first-half goals to grab the lead, then held off the Matadors in the second half to get back in the win column after a loss and a draw last weekend in Utah. UNLV moves to 3-1-1 on the season, while CSUN falls to 1-2-1.

The Scarlet and Gray will return home to finish out the weekend, hosting Cal State Bakersfield at Peter Johann Memorial Field on Sunday, September 2 at 1 p.m.

THE TURNING POINT: UNLV took an early 1-0 lead, but the Matadors quickly tied it up in the 14th minute. The Rebels didn’t waste any time responding, with junior midfielder Katie Ballou heading in a corner kick from senior forward Amanda Galbraithin the 18th minute to take the lead right back. Ten minutes later, junior transfer Kim Olivares scored her first career goal as a Rebel on a nifty shot off a pass from junior defender Paige Almendariz, giving the Rebels the two-score lead.

REBEL OF THE GAME: Galbraith showed why she’s so important to the offense as she opened things up just after the five minute mark, finding the back of the net after fellow forward Michaela Morris fed her on the left side of the box. Twelve minutes later, Galbraith sent the textbook corner into the waiting head of Ballou for what proved to be the game-winner.

STAT OF THE GAME: After being limited to one goal in over 200 minutes of action last weekend, the Rebels scored three goals in a span of 24 minutes in the first half.

QUOTABLE: Head coach Chris Shaw:
“I’m very happy with our performance overall tonight. Three goals on the road against a tough and physical Northridge team isn’t easy. I thought the defense battled hard and I was impressed with them tonight.”

REBEL NOTES: 
* UNLV and CSUN finished at an even 13-13 for shots on the night – the Rebels have not been out-shot in five games this year
* The road victory is the first for UNLV since September 24, 2017 – a 1-0 win at San Diego State. Prior to Saturday’s double overtime 1-1 draw at Utah Valley, the Rebels had lost five straight on the road dating back to last season
* UNLV returns home Sunday, where they are 2-0 this year and were 9-1 last season
* Thursday’s match marked the first time since 2010 the two schools had played each other. CSUN won the last matchup 1-0 in Las Vegas on Sept. 12, 2010
* The draw breaks a five-game regular season road losing streak that dates back to the end of last season
* UNLV is celebrating its 20th season in program history, with the official recognition taking place on Friday, Oct. 5 as the Rebels host Fresno State

Gonzalez Named Outstanding Rebel Of The Week

Men’s soccer sophomore forward Marco Gonzalez earns honor after netting first career hat trick last weekend

 

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV men’s soccer sophomore Marco Gonzalez has been named the Outstanding Rebel of the Week, the school announced Wednesday.

The award goes to the student-athlete who turned in the best individual performance during the previous week of competition from Monday through Sunday as voted on by the UNLV Athletic Communications department.

Gonzalez, a local product out of Mission Heights Prep High School, tallied a conference-high seven points over the weekend, highlighted by the first hat trick of his career in Sunday’s 4-1 UNLV win over Evansville. The forward scored the first two goals of the game exactly 60 seconds apart in the 15th and 16th minutes, then sealed the game with his third goal just after halftime after the Aces had closed within 2-1. Gonzalez began the weekend with an assist in helping the Rebels beat Florida Atlantic 3-0. His three goals are already half of his freshman goal total of six, which ranked second on the squad in 2017.

For his performance, Gonzalez was named the WAC Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in his career, while he is the first Rebel besides Danny Musovski to earn the weekly honor since Sal Bernal was named on Sept. 1, 2014.

The Rebels are on the road again this weekend, heading to Tulsa, Oklahoma, for matches against Tulsa and Oral Roberts on Friday, August 31 and Sunday, September 2, respectively.

2018-19 Outstanding Rebel of the Week Award Winners
Aug. 29 – Marco Gonzalez, Men’s Soccer