Announcements

August 29, 2018 In Announcements, General, Spotlight

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

August 28, 2018 In Announcements, General

Mehlich Named To Top Drawer Soccer’s Team Of The Week

Gonzalez was an Honorable Mention selection.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV junior midfielder Timo Mehlich was named to Top Drawer Soccer’s Men’s Team of the Week it was announced Tuesday morning after a weekend in which he posted five points off a pair of goals and an assist. This is the first national weekly honor of Mehlich’s career, while teammate Marco Gonzalez, a sophomore forward and WAC Player of the Week, was named honorable mention for the week by Top Drawer Soccer.

Mehlich, a native of Mönchengladbach, Germany, notched a goal in each of the Rebel wins over their opening two games. In the victory over Florida Atlantic on Aug. 24, he scored the first goal of the game off a penalty kick in the 50th minute, which would be the game-winner as well in the 3-0 contest. He closed out the weekend by assisting on the game-winner in the 4-1 win over Evansville, while he also added a goal in the 76th minute.

With his five points, Mehlich currently ranks in a tie for third in the WAC, while Gonzalez leads the conference with seven points after posting a hat trick in the Evansville game.

REBEL NOTES: In the first United Soccer Coaches Regional Rankings of the season, the Rebels make their debut at No. 7, ahead of fellow conference members Grand Canyon (No. 8) and Air Force (No. 10).

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV (2-0) will face No. 23/15 Tulsa on Friday night at 6 pm, and will remain in the area to take on Oral Roberts in a Sunday, Sept. 2 contest at 3 pm.

August 27, 2018 In Announcements, General, Spotlight

Gonzalez Named WAC Player Of The Week

Sophomore leads the WAC with seven points after the first weekend.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV sophomore forward Marco Gonzalez has been named the WAC Men’s Soccer Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday morning. It’s the first weekly honor of Gonzalez’s career, and he is the first Rebel besides Danny Musovski to earn WAC Offensive weekly honors since Sal Bernal was named on Sept. 1, 2014. 

The Las Vegas native scored 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. He scored the first two goals of the game exactly 60 seconds apart in the 15th and 16th minutes. After the Aces closed within 2-1, Gonzalez sealed the game with his third goal just after halftime.  He began the weekend with an assist in the Rebels’ 3-0 win over Florida Atlantic. His three goals over the weekend is half of his freshman goal total of six, which ranked second on the squad in 2017.

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV (2-0) will face 15th-ranked Tulsa Friday night at 6 pm, and will remain in the area to take on Oral Roberts in a Sunday, Sept. 2 contest at 3 pm.

August 26, 2018 In Announcements, General, Recaps

Hat Trick For Gonzalez In 4-1 Win Over Evansville

UNLV outscores its opponents 7-1 this weekend.

OREM, Utah (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV sophomore forward Marco Gonzalez posted his first career hat trick to lead the Rebels past Evansville 4-1 Sunday morning in college men’s soccer action from Clyde Field on the Utah Valley campus. The Rebels moved to 2-0 on the year with the win, their second straight in the Utah Valley Soccer Invitational.

Gonzalez scored his first two goals exactly one minute apart in the 15th and 16th minute of the game to put the Rebels ahead 2-0 early. The Aces, who were limited to just five total shots in the game, managed to break down the Rebel defense in the 26th minute to close within 2-1. UNLV only allowed one more shot on goal the rest of the way, and posted a pair of goals after halftime for the three-goal victory.

THE TURNING POINT: With the lead at one coming out of the halftime break, the Rebels took control when Nico Clasen stole the ball at midfield and sent up a long pass on the left side to Gonzalez. The Las Vegas native raced into the box past his defender, juked out the Aces goalkeeper and dribbled to the middle of the box before easily scoring on the empty goal, making its a 3-1 Rebel advantage in the 52nd minute.

REBEL OF THE GAME: Gonzalez is already halfway to his freshman year’s goal total after his three-goal performance against Evansville. His first goal came on a chip shot over the goalkeeper from 18 yards out, and he then finished off a great cross into the box from Timo Mehlich for his second score, before adding his third score in the second half.

STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV outshot the Aces 22-5, and held an 8-2 edge on shots on goal.

QUOTABLE: 
“To score seven goals and only concede one, that’s a pretty good weekend. We did good things today in breaking down Evansville’s defense on the outside and in getting behind their backline. Marco (Gonzalez) showed great resilience today, a really great individual performance for him. At the same time we had a very good overall team effort, I thought to come out and play that well on a Sunday ”
– UNLV Head Coach Rich Ryerson

REBEL NOTES: 
* Gonzalez posted an assist on Friday to give him seven total points for the weekend.
* Timo Mehlich closed out the scoring on the 76th minute thanks to a long pass from fellow German native Nico Clasen. It was Mehlich’s second goal of the weekend.
* Clasen picked up his first two assists of the season, coming on the third and fourth Rebel goals.
* Jordan Chavez was credited with the assist on UNLV’s first score, while Mehlich and Tyler Allen assisted on the second goal.
* Three of UNLV’s goals in the game came after a steal at midfield leading to a long pass up the field for the score.
* UNLV outscored its two opponents by a 7-1 margin this weekend, and allowed only three total shots on goal between the two games.

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV will play a third straight game away from Las Vegas when it faces the Tulsa Hurricanes Friday, Aug. 31 at 6 pm in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Tulsa will be coming into the match after claiming a 2-1 win at No. 15 Michigan and a 0-0 overtime tie at No. 4 Michigan State this weekend.

August 24, 2018 In Announcements, General, Recaps

Season-Opening Shutout Win For The Rebels

UNLV takes down the FAU Owls 3-0

 

OREM, Utah (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV men’s soccer overcame a slow start in the first half with a three-goal explosion over a five-minute span after halftime for a 3-0 shutout victory over Florida Atlantic in the season opener for both teams Friday afternoon at Clyde Field on the Utah Valley campus.

 
UNLV did not have much going on offensively in the first half, as the Owls were the ones threatening to score over the first 20 minutes while taking four of the first five shots of the game. The Rebels stayed strong on defense however, and started to push the attack with several shots on goal to end the half. 
THE TURNING POINT: UNLV drew a penalty kick in the 50th minute after Timo Mehlich was pulled down in the box, the junior midfielder sent his attempt up the middle for the goal and a 1-0 lead. Four minutes later the lead doubled on Bay Kurtz’s score on the empty net after the Owl goalkeeper came out to challenge the play in the 54th minute. UNLV added a third goal just 65 seconds later in the 55th minute for a commanding 3-0 lead.
REBEL OF THE GAME: Senior forward Daniel Moran assisted on the game’s second goal, and finished off an assist from Marco Gonzalez when he tapped in the shot in front of the goal to give him three points for the afternoon.
STAT OF THE GAME: Only one of FAU’s 11 credited shots in the game were on goal, while nine of UNLV’s 12 shots were on frame.
QUOTABLE:
“I thought we started a little apprehensive, the guys were tentative with their first game and that kept us from playing with a good rhythm  and possession. We regrouped well at halftime, we were able to make a lot of changes and keep guys fresh and that led to a great five-minute spell there to get the three goals. Good start to the season.”
– UNLV Head Coach Rich Ryerson
REBEL NOTES: 
* UNLV goalkeeper Enrique Adame only needed one save to pick up the seventh shutout in his career.
* Bay Kurtz scored his first career goal as a Rebel after transferring to UNLV this summer from Virginia
* Daniel Moran has scored goals in the past two season-openers for UNLV after his golden goal a year ago in a 3-2 double-overtime win at Portland.
* This is the second straight year UNLV has won its season-opener, and both were away from Las Vegas.

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV remains in Orem for its second game of the weekend, a Sunday morning, 9:30 am contest against Evansville. The game will have a live video feed on the WAC Digital Network, available both on UNLVRebels.com and on the WAC’s Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple TV and Droid TV channels.

August 19, 2018 In Announcements, General, Recaps

Rebels Go Unbeaten On Opening Weekend

UNLV scores late goal to down Sacramento State 2-1 Sunday at home

 

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – On a hotter than normal late-August afternoon, UNLV women’s soccer completed a perfect 2-0 opening weekend at Peter Johann Memorial Field, beating Sacramento State 2-1 in the finale of the UNLV Invitational Sunday. The victory didn’t come easy, however, as the Hornets never quit and tied it at one late in the game before UNLV ultimately pulled it out.

For the second straight year, the Rebels began the season with an unbeaten mark at their home-hosted tournament and will look to go 4-0 to start the season for the third consecutive year as they head out on the road next weekend, taking on Southern Utah Thursday at 3 p.m. PT and Utah Valley Saturday at 6 p.m.

THE TURNING POINT: UNLV took an early lead in the 13th minute thanks to a towering Emberly Sevilla kick finding forward Amanda Galbraith, who took a couple touches and finished in the back of the net for her first goal of the season. It was looking like that would hold up for the victory, but the Hornets never gave up despite the heat and relentless UNLV pressure, tying the game at one with just under 20 minutes to play. The Rebels didn’t let that phase them, as they responded just over a minute later with the game-winning goal. Sophomore midfielder Hannah Harrison dished it to forward Caitlyn Kreutz, who took a turn and slotted it into the back left corner.

REBEL OF THE GAME: Kreutz’s speed put pressure on the Hornet defense all afternoon and her attack finally paid off with the game-winner. It was the senior’s second game-winner of the weekend as her second-half score Friday night gave the Rebels the lead for good in the eventual 5-1 victory over UIC.

STAT OF THE GAME: The Rebels registered more than 20 shots for the second straight game, out-shooting the Hornets 22-7. That included three rocket shots nailing the crossbar – just a few inches here or there and the margin of victory could have been bigger.

QUOTABLE: Head coach Chris Shaw 
On the team’s performance Sunday:
“I’m happy with the result, Sacramento State is a tough team, they compete for everything. They made things really tough for Santa Barbara on Friday and they just never give up. That said, I thought we played well. We did a much better job of controlling possession and even though we didn’t score as many, I felt like we created just as many opportunities as we did on Friday. Overall, a better performance, I think getting the first game out of the way allowed us to settle down, so I was very pleased with the performance today.”

Overall thoughts about opening weekend and heading out onto the road for the first time:
“We always take a lot of pride in trying to win at home and it’s always nice playing in front of the hometown crowd. Going on the road, we will see what the team’s made of because we’ve got to play half our games on the road so you can’t just win at home and expect to be competitive. We’re excited about going on the road and hopefully we can replicate some of what we saw today.”

REBEL NOTES: 
* 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
* UNLV started 2-0 for the third consecutive year
* UNLV is now 2-0 at home after going 9-1 on their home field in 2017
* Four different player have recorded goals all ready, with Kaila Brinkman, Robin Pollard and Caitlyn Kreutz each netting two on opening weekend.
* UC Santa Barbara was named the official winners of the UNLV Invitational after going 2-0 and scoring nine goals on the weekend, edging out the Rebels who went 2-0 with seven goals
* Tournament honors:
Overall tournament MVP: Jessica Clegg, UCSB
Offensive MVP: Caitlyn Kreutz, UNLV
Defensive MVP: Sophia Dertorossian, UCSB
GK of the Tourney: Emberly Sevilla, UNLV
All Tournament Team:
– Sac. State: Mikayla Reed, Mia Wilson
– UCSB: Jessica Clegg, Sophia Dertorossian, Mal Hromatko, Shea Murison
– UIC – Megan Bowman
– UNLV: Caitlyn Kreutz, Emberly Sevilla, Troi Hollimon, Kaila Brinkman

August 18, 2018 In Announcements, General, Recaps

Rebels Score Five Unanswered In Season-Opening Victory

UNLV wins first game of the season for the eighth straight time

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV women’s soccer started slow, but finished fast in its season opener at the UNLV Invitational Friday night at Peter Johann Memorial Field, beating UIC 5-1 thanks to a barrage of second half goals. The Rebels fell behind early after allowing a goal in the first 10 minutes, but the defense and freshman keeper Emberly Sevilla – making her first collegiate start – settled in and kept the Flames out of the net over the next 80 plus minutes, while the offense exploded for five unanswered to bury UIC.

The victory marks the eight straight year UNLV (1-0) has won its season-opening match, keeping head coach Chris Shaw‘s opening-game record perfect at 5-0. Three different players found the back of the net on the night – seniors Caitlyn Kreutz and Kaila Brinkman and sophomore Robin Pollard – with Pollard and Brinkman each netting two.

THE TURNING POINT: The Rebels didn’t panic when they gave up the early score. After Pollard cleaned up a deflection of an Amanda Galbraith shot to tie it at one in the 32nd minute, Caitlyn Kreutz gave the Rebels the lead for good in the 61st minute, scoring on a second effort after her first shot was blocked by the UIC keeper. UNLV was off and running after that, with Pollard scoring her second of the night in the 73rd minute, followed by a pair of goals by Brinkman just over a minute apart over the final seven minutes.

REBEL OF THE GAME: Hard to not give it to both Pollard and Brinkman, but the slight edge goes to Pollard, who came off the bench to give UNLV a much-needed spark after the team came out flat early in the first half. In addition to the two goals, Pollard assisted on Brinkman’s first score in the 84th minute – this coming after Pollard recorded just one goal all year as a freshman in 2017.

STAT OF THE GAME: Friday’s five goals were the most scored by UNLV in a season-opening match in program history.

QUOTABLE: Head Coach Chris Shaw 
On the team rebounding from a slow start: 
“To be honest, we were a little disappointed with our first half, we felt like we got off to a slow start, but some of that is we don’t play any exhibitions so it really was the first opportunity to play against opposition. That said – I felt like the second half was good, a lot of players came off the bench and came out with a lot of energy. We’ve got some kids that have definitely started to come into their own.”

On Pollard’s performance:
“Robin is someone I’ve coached and known since she was a freshman in high school. She’s always had a great capacity for work, so she’s going to run, she’s going to chase and do anything she can to try to put the ball in the back of the net. The difference for her between last year and this year is her comfort level with the ball, her decision making and just being more tactically aware and that showed tonight.”

REBEL NOTES: 
* 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
* Dating back to the final game of 2017, the Rebels have scored five goals in two straight contests
* The Rebels dominated on the stat sheet out-shooting the Flames 22-8
* UNLV played 21 different players in the opener
* Sevilla became just the second true freshman in program history to start a season-opener, with the person she replaced – Jordan Sallee – being the only other keeper to share the honor

August 15, 2018 In Announcements, General, Spotlight

Rebels Picked To Finish Second In The WAC

Three Rebels named Preseason All-WAC

8/15/2018

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – For the third time in the past five years, UNLV men’s soccer has been picked to finish second in the Western Athletic Conference as the league office announced the 2018 WAC Preseason Coaches Poll Wednesday morning. In addition, three Rebels were named to the Preseason All-WAC squad, the second-highest number in the conference behind preseason favorite Seattle’s four representatives. This marks the first time since 2015 that UNLV placed three on the team.

Making a repeat appearance on the preseason team is junior midfielder Timo Mehlich, (Mönchengladbach, Germany). He claimed first-time All-WAC honors and second-team all-region recognition in 2017 after posting 16 points off five goals and six assists. Sophomore forward Marco Gonzalez (Las Vegas) was the Rebels’ second-leading scorer as a freshman, notching six goals and six assists for 18 points, and joined Mehlich in posting three game-winning goals for the year. Senior defender Adam Musovski is the third Rebel on the preseason team, coming off an outstanding season on the backline that earned him First Team All-WAC honors. This marks the fourth straight year a Musovski has been named to the Preseason All-WAC squad, as his brother Danny was a member of three straight teams from  2015-17.

The Rebels return seven of 11 starters from last year’s squad that posted an 11-9-1 mark while tying for second in the conference standings with 18 points (6-3 WAC record).

They received 105 total points in the poll to place second, narrowly ahead of third place Air Force (104 points). Seattle received nine first-place votes to place first in the preseason poll with 119, while Air Force has the remaining three first place votes. Grouped close together was fourth place San Jose State (84), fifth place Utah Valley (79) and Grand Canyon in sixth (75). Rounding out the poll, CSU Bakersfield was seventh (55), UTRGV eighth (49), UMKC ninth (38), new league member Cal Baptist was 10th (30), Houston Baptist 11th (28), and Incarnate Word finished the poll in 12th with 26 points.

UNLV opens the season on the road for the sixth straight year, beginning with a Friday, Aug. 24 contest against Florida Atlantic (3 pm) on the Utah Valley campus, the first of four straight games for the Rebels away from Las Vegas. The home opener will be on Friday, Sept. 7, against Wofford at 7 pm at Peter Johann Memorial Field on Alumni Weekend, which kicks off earlier that day with the annual Alumni Game at 5 pm. Once again the Rebel Soccer Foundation will host a free tailgate party before each home game, open to all ticket holders with free food and drinks.

Tickets are on sale now for the 2018 UNLV men’s soccer season. Season tickets are just $35 for adults, $25 for UNLV faculty/staff and seniors. Single game ticket prices this season are $8 for adults, $6 for faculty/staff and seniors, though a special internet price of $5 is available for all tickets bought online at UNLVTickets.com, good up to three hours before game time. New this year at UNLV, all students in elementary, middle and high schools will receive free admission to the sports of men’s and women’s soccer, volleyball, women’s basketball, softball and baseball. Kids not yet of elementary school age will continue to receive free entry to all UNLV Olympic Sports.

2018 WAC Preseason Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Poll

Place    Team (1st place votes)    Votes
1. Seattle (9) – 119
2. UNLV – 105
3. Air Force – 104
4. San Jose State – 84
5. Utah Valley – 79
6. Grand Canyon – 75
7. CSU Bakersfield – 55
8. UTRGV – 49
9. UMKC – 38
10. Cal Baptist – 30
11. Houston Baptist – 28
12. UIW – 26

2018 Preseason All-WAC Team
Tucker Bone, Sr., F, Air Force
Austin Dewing, Sr., F, Air Force
Marco Gonzalez, So., F, UNLV
Josh Drack, So., MF, Grand Canyon
Timo Mehlich, Jr., MF, UNLV
Sergio Rivas, Sr., MF, Seattle
Nathan Aune, Sr., D, Seattle
Anthony Ayala, Sr., D, Seattle
Adam Musovski, Sr., D, UNLV
Andy Rios, Sr., D, San Jose State
Josh Adachi, Sr., GK, Seattle

Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
Sergio Rivas, Seattle

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year 
Nathan Aune, Seattle

July 26, 2018 In Announcements, General, Spotlight

UNLV Men’s Soccer’s Connors, Lynam and Soresman Help Downtown LVSC to National Semifinals

July 26, 2018

Las Vegas club looking to become first-ever boys team from the state of Nevada to win the national title

 
 

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – Three members of the UNLV men’s soccer team, incoming freshmen Dylan Soresman and John Lynam, along with associate head coach Liam Connors, are bidding to help the Downtown LVSC become the first-ever boy’s club team from the state of Nevada to win a national championship as they will play Saturday morning in the U-18 semifinals of the 2018 US Youth Soccer National Championships. This year’s event, which features the top teams in the U-13 through U-19 age groups, is being held from July 24-July 29 in Frisco, Texas.

Connors is the head coach of the squad, while Soresman and Lynam, both Las Vegas natives, have started all three games for Downtown LVSC this week. They helped the team to first place in the Group B standings with a 3-0 record, thanks to an impressive 8-1 goal differential.

“This would be a great accomplish for the entire team if we win two games and the national title,” said Connors. “The two Rebels on the team have played great as well, especially Soresman’s play on the defensive side to help us allow a tournament low one goal, while Lynam has made his impact known on the offensive side.”

Lynam has a goal and an assist over the first three games, which the team won by scores of 3-0, 2-0 and 3-1. They will take on the Group A second place team, West Coast FC Armour from San Juan Capistrano, California, in the second semifinal game Saturday at 7 am (CST). The winner will meet either Washington Premier or Baltimore Celtic SC in the championship game Sunday at 8 am (CST).