Oct. 17, 1999

LAS VEGAS - The UNLV men?s soccer team dropped its fourth straight and second league match Sunday, 6-2 against Cal State Fullerton at Johann Field.

The Rebels held a solid 2-0 lead at the break on some impressive play from forwards Jason Melendez (Lakewood, CA/Mayfair) and Tuomas Talvio (Helsinki, Finland). Talvio redirected a pass in front of the goal to an open Melendez, who scored on a header for his team-best fifth goal of the year.

Talvio followed just minutes later, collecting a loose ball in the corner and dribbling past two defenders before beating the Ttian keeper.

But, UNLV fell into trouble just before halftime as goalkeeper Ryan Bledsoe (Las Vegas, NV/Eldorado) was issued a red card. Bledsoe, who had been shutting out the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation?s No. 2 offense, was ejected and replaced in the goal by sophomore Robert Ackah (Agoura, CA/Cascade College), and the Rebels went into the second half a man down.

Eleven minutes into the second half, senior midfielder Geoff Barto (Henderson, NV/Green Valley) was carded for the second time in the game, earning a second ejection and forcing the Rebels to field only nine players.

Shortly after gaining the two-man advantage, the Titans went to work. Marco Mesrobian posted up in front of the goal to put CSUF on the board at 59:51.

Mesrobian added a second goal just four minutes later to tie the match, but the offensive outpour did not stop there. The Titans would score three more times before the 71st minute to quash the Rebels? hopes for an upset and put the game away.

Cal State Fullerton fired off 17 shots in the second half and outshot UNLV 25-11 in the match.

UNLV drops to 5-8-0 overall and 0-2-0 in the MPSF. The Titans improve to 11-3-0 overall and cling to second place in the MPSF Pacific Division at 3-1-0. The Rebels hit the road for a pair of MPSF matches next week, challenging Cal State Northridge on Friday, Oct. 22 and facing UC Santa Barbara on Sunday, Oct. 24.