Announcements

Men’s Soccer 3/11/19 Update from the Soccer Yoda

Spring season for American college soccer programs is a unique time. Similar to college
football spring practice, last fall’s seniors are gone and next year’s recruiting class hasn’t arrived yet. So,
without those elements, the spring is a time for improving ball skills, communication and a chance for
last fall’s second teamers to establish themselves as strong candidates for starting positions next varsity
season. But there is an important difference between soccer spring and football spring. Soccer teams
can play outside competition and can play types of opponents they will not see during the fall varsity
season.
The UNLV spring season is just such a time for the Rebels and in playing the professional
Austin (TX.) Bold, they had a match that would not appear on their schedule next October. And, despite
the seeming disparity between a professional side and a college one, the Rebels gave a good account of
themselves.
In the opening minutes, the pros attempted to establish their dominance by playing a high
defensive line and attacking quickly and directly. But the UNLV defense held firm and managed to
counter. Using a midfield of Nikko Classen, Jesus Partida, Timo Mehlich and Marco Gonzalez, they
brought the ball out of their defensive area quickly and effectively. In the twelfth minute a contested
ball in midfield popped past that high Bold line and UNLV forward Bryan Martinez pounced on it and
using an nice cut to his right, he beat Austin’s goalkeeper and scored. The Bold didn’t change their play
and just a couple minutes later Mehlich hit the right post, almost putting the Rebels up two. Austin
settled their offense and playing more of a possession game they exerted more control offensively.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t until the 31st minute of the 35 minute half that they threatened, hitting the UNLV
crossbar. The Rebels managed to clear the danger and went into halftime at 1-0 ahead.
In the second half Austin made an adjustment. They pulled their back line back to a more
moderate position and used the added space to spread the ball more and open the UNLV midfield. This
gave them some openings to use in attacking the Rebel goal. For the most part the UNLV defense was
quick to react and when their midfield did win the ball a quick strike was on. Timo used that advantage
to almost catch the Bold keeper far off his line with a long attempt at 10 minutes of the half.
At the 12 minute mark the Bold broke through and a controversial foul was called just outside
of the Rebel penalty area on the far left side. Austin sent a low ball across the penalty area which found
its way to Bold feet just in front of the goal and the game was tied at 1. As the half wore on, Austin’s
possession began to take a toll although the occasional steal by the Rebels produced some effective
counters, particularity down the UNLV right and the Rebels gained a few corners and a couple near
misses off of them.
At the 26 minutes the Rebels were forced to foul in order to break up a fast Bold attack about 25
yds from goal. At that point Austin launched a world class free kick into the upper left corner of the
goal and they had the lead. In the 31st minute, Classen took the ball from a Bold player and started an
excellent attack which resulted in Marco Gonzalez hitting a perfect low cross in front of goal, but there
was no finish and that proved to be UNLV’s last chance to score.
Given the level of their competition, the Rebels were certainly competitive and while the result
was a 2-1 defeat, remembering the objectives of spring season it must be said that UNLV had an
encouraging experience against the pros.

Clasen, Gonzalez Named All-Region

Clasen is the first-ever Rebel to earn all-region status as a Freshman.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – A pair of players from the UNLV Men’s Soccer team, Marco Gonzalez and Nico Classen, earned their first career regional honor as both were selected to the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region Third team, the national organization announced Wednesday. This marks the third time in the past four years the Rebels have placed multiple players on the all-region squads.

Gonzalez, a sophomore forward and native of Las Vegas, paced the Rebels this year in both goals (10) and points (23), which ranked him fifth in the WAC in both categories. He notched a pair of multi-goal games this year, including a hat trick against Evansville, and finished the season with three game-winners as well on the way to earning second-team All-WAC honors.

Clasen, a native of Mönchengladbach, Germany, set a new UNLV freshman record and was just one off the school record for total assists in a season with 10 in his first year in the Scarlet & Gray. That also ranked him in a tie for seventh in the nation, and was the second-highest in the WAC as well. This is the second season honor for Clasen after he was also named to the WAC All-Freshman squad. He is also the first-ever Rebel to earn all-region status as a freshman.

UNLV finished the season at 10-10-1, which pushed its streak of 10-win seasons to a school-record five straight.

Kreutz Earns United Soccer Coaches All-Pacific Region Nod

Senior Caitlyn Kreutz named to the USC Pacific Region Second Team

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV women’s soccer senior Caitlyn Kreutz earned her first career all-region honor as she was named to the United Soccer Coaches (USC) All-Pacific Region Second Team, the organization announced Monday.

“I’m very happy to see Caitlyn get recognized for her play this year,” said head coach Chris Shaw.”Caitlyn had a great senior season and is well deserving of this honor. She was a threat every time she touched the ball and I felt she was one of the most dynamic attacking players in the region.”

Kreutz, from Clovis, California, transferred to UNLV from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo prior to the 2017 season and immediately secured a spot in the Rebels’ starting lineup. Over her short, but productive two-year UNLV career, the forward started all 40 games in 2017 and 2018 combined, totaling 12 goals, three assists and 27 points. In 2018, she scored seven goals on the year, which was tied for the team lead, with five of those scores being game winners – a mark that ranked second in the Mountain West and was tied for second most game-winning goals in a single season in program history. Kreutz also led the team in shots (45) and shots on goal (24) and was second on the team with 15 total points.

This is the third consecutive season the Rebels have been honored with a USC all-region selection, while it is the program’s 12th overall all-region nod from the organization.

Partida Named To College Soccer News Team Of The Week

Sophomore is second in the WAC with three game-winners this season.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV sophomore midfielder Jesus Partida became the second Rebel to earn national team of the week honors Monday when he was named to the College Soccer News National Team of the Week for the week ending October 21. This is the first weekly honor of any type for Partida, and he is the second Rebel to earn national team honors this season after Timo Mehlich was honored by Top Drawer Soccer in the opening week of play.

Partida, a native of Reno, Nevada, not only doubled his career goal total this weekend, he also notched the first two game-winners of his career, in back-to-back games. He scored the lone goal of the game in UNLV’s 1-0 win at UMKC Oct. 19 when he sent in a long ball from deep on the right side that was able to go through traffic in the box before hitting the back of the left side of the net for the score, in the 46th minute of the contest. Again he scored the only goal of the game in the Rebels’ next contest, as he scored off an 18-yard shot to the right side in the Rebels’ 1-0 win at Houston Baptist on Sunday.

For the season, Partida has seven points off three goals and an assist, and all three of his goals are game-winners, which ranks him in a tie for second in the WAC.

With the two consecutive shutout wins, the Rebels are now on a three-game win streak that has moved their record to 9-7-1 overall, and to 4-3-1 in WAC play which has them tied for fourth place.

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV hosts 15th-ranked Air Force Friday night at 7 pm at Peter Johann Memorial Field. Tickets are just $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and staff, while kids 17 and under are free to all UNLV soccer events. The Rebel Mafia Tailgate party, sponsored by the UNLV Soccer Foundation, will open at 5 pm with free food, drinks and live music for all with ticketed admission. The game will also be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network, available on UNLVRebels.com as well as through the Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV and Android streaming devices.

Bohn Named WAC Player Of The Week

Senior goalkeeper is first Rebel with back-to-back shutouts since 2003.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV senior goalkeeper Nathan Bohn has been named the WAC Men’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday morning. It is the first weekly honor of Bohn’s career, and he is the first Rebel to earn WAC Defensive weekly honors since Richard Garness on Oct. 12, 2015.

The Las Vegas native, playing in just his fourth and fifth games of the season, recorded the first two shutouts of his career over the weekend as the Rebels knocked off UMKC 1-0 on Oct. 19, and then claimed a 1-0 win over Houston Baptist Sunday afternoon. Bohn became the first Rebel goalkeeper to post back-to-back road shutouts since Peter Clitheroe blanked Denver 1-0 and Denver 2-0 in October of 2003.

Against the UMKC Roos, Bohn faced a total of six shots while earning a clean sheet. In Sunday’s contest, he collected a career-high six saves and faced 15 total shots against HBU.

With the two consecutive shutout wins, the Rebels are now on a three-game win streak that has moved their record to 9-7-1 overall, and to 4-3-1 in WAC play which has them tied for fourth place.

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV hosts 15th-ranked Air Force Friday night at 7 pm at Peter Johann Memorial Field. Tickets are just $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and staff, while kids 17 and under are free to all UNLV soccer events. The Rebel Mafia Tailgate party, sponsored by the UNLV Soccer Foundation, will open at 5 pm with free food, drinks and live music for all with ticketed admission. The game will also be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network, available on UNLVRebels.com as well as through the Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV and Android streaming devices.