Spotlight

September 28, 2018 In Announcements, General, Recaps, Spotlight

Rebels Claim 400th Win In Program History Friday Night

UNLV takes down Cal Baptist 1-0 for first WAC win of the season.

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – UNLV senior forward Daniel Moran posted the only goal of the game to give the Rebels a 1-0 shutout victory over Cal Baptist in WAC men’s soccer action Friday night from Peter Johann Memorial Field. This was the 400th win in the 45-year history for the Rebels, who are now 400-383-64 all-time.

The Rebels improved to 6-5 for the year and evened their record to 1-1 in league play, while Cal Baptist dropped to 5-4-1, and 1-1 in the WAC. 

REBEL OF THE GAME: Moran, a Las Vegas native, notched his first game-winning goal of the year in the 41st minute. The winning play was set up by a Lancer foul, which awarded UNLV a free kick 30 yards away from the goal. Nico Clasen took the kick and from the right side launched the ball to the near post inside the box, where Moran connected on it with a header past the CBU goalkeeper for the score.

STAT OF THE GAME: Cal Baptist came into the night averaging over 14 shots and two goals per game, but were held scoreless while attempting only six total shots, with just one on goal.

REBEL NOTES: 
* Moran notched his third goal of the season and is tied for second on the team in points with seven.
* Clasen recorded his WAC-leading fifth assist of the season.
* UNLV snapped a three-game losing streak with the victory.
* Friday’s win was the third shutout victory of the season for the Rebels.

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV closes out the weekend with a Sunday, Sept. 30 contest at 1 pm against CSU Bakersfield. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for seniors and staff, while all kids 17 and under are free at UNLV athletic events. Sunday’s game will 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.

August 31, 2018 In Announcements, General, Recaps, Spotlight

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.

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 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 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