Versus Saint Mary’s
The UNLV men’s soccer team suffered its first defeat of the season at the hands of Saint Mary’s on Sept. 3 with a 2-0 loss.
Facing a Gaels (2-1) team, the Rebels couldn’t overcome a 51-minute goal and an insurance score in the 69th minute by Saint Mary’s.
The Scarlet and Gray attack managed to get off eight shots in the contest, four of which were on goal, but St. Mary’s stingy defense anchored by goalkeeper Kash Oladapo prevented any Rebel finishes.
Versus Cal
In a high-scoring game on Sunday, Sept. 5, UNLV was stunned by two late goals from Pac-12 opponent Cal, resulting in a 4-3 setback to the Golden Bears at Edwards Stadium.
The Rebels grabbed a 3-2 lead in the 65th minute after a potential game-winning goal from senior Nicolas Likulia broke a 2-2 tie. The Golden Bears responded with an equalizer soon after, followed by a game-winning goal of their own three minutes later.
UNLV and Cal proved to be worthy opponents of each other with both teams finishing with 12 shots (seven on goal). The Rebels were only able to make three saves compared to Cal’s four saves.
Versus Sacramento
UNLV’s men’s soccer team ended a two-game skid Sept. 10 with a 3-1 victory at Sacramento State on Hornet Field.
After trailing 1-0 at the half, The Rebels came out of the gates firing immediately with an equalizer in the 46th minute from freshman Lateef Omidiji on an assist from Skyler Goo to draw even with the Hornets.
Half an hour later, Marco Gonzalez sent a cross from the right of the box that Aedon Kyra struck in for his third goal of the season to put the Scarlet and Gray up for good. Goo added insurance with its final score in the 87th minute.
Versus Pacific
UNLV was unable to keep up with Pacific as two unanswered goals left the Rebels with a loss (2-1) in their final non-conference road test.
Kyra scored for the Rebels in the 21st minute when Gabriel Claudio headed the ball toward him in front of the far post off a corner taken by Gonzalez.
Pacific couldn’t even wait a full ten minutes before adding their own score to the board. The Tigers went on to add the only goal of the second half in the 64th minute.
Despite the late goal, UNLV continued to create opportunities on the attacking side of the field until the final whistle, firing away six of its game-high 13 shots in the final frame, but the Tiger defenders diverted each of the Rebels’ comeback attempts.
