UNLV MEN’S SOCCER MOVES INTO TIE FOR SECOND WITH 3-1 WIN AT GRAND CANYON
Rebels on longest unbeaten streak in 18 years
Thanks to three goals from three different players, UNLV increased its unbeaten streak to five games thanks to a 3-1 victory at Grand Canyon on Sunday afternoon in WAC men’s soccer action at the GCU Soccer Field. With its longest unbeaten streak since the 1995 season, the Rebels improved to 7-9-1 on the year, 5-3-1 in league play, which places them in a tie for second place with Bakersfield. GCU dropped to 2-12-1, and 1-7 in the conference.
“Our guys rebounded well from their tie on Friday night with a solid performance today against Grand Canyon,” said UNLV head coach Rich Ryerson. “Not only did we have three different players score, but two of them scored their first career goals, so it was good to have that kind of balance on offense. It was also an important win because it was our first on the road this year.”
The Rebels went ahead 1-0 in the first half when Carlos Lara notched his first career goal on a shot that deflected off a defender and into the goal at the 34th minute. That would be the halftime score as well, and the opening half ended with GCU holding a 6-5 edge on shots. The Antelopes tied up the game in the 48th minute, when Daniel Wall collected the ball off a throw in from Amer Sasivarevic,and scored to the back right of the goal to make it a 1-1 game.
UNLV broke the tie in the 65th minute, and this was again off a career first goal. This time Andy Rodriguez was the scorer, from right in front of the goal off an assist from Bradley Kamdem. That would be the eventual game-winner as well. The final goal of the game was provided by Irvin Somera, off an assist from Rodrigo Fuentes, in the 77th minute of a shot from 16 yards out for a 3-1 UNLV lead.
Both teams finished the game with 12 shots each, UNLV finished with just four on goal, but scored on three of those four, while GCU had six. Both teams took three corner kicks each as well. In goal, UNLV goalkeeper Ryan Harding notched four saves in the game, and Antelope goalkeeper Joshua Zehring had one.
UNLV finishes the regular season with a road contest at Bakersfield on Saturday, Nov. 9 at 7 pm.