Sept. 13, 2000
LAS VEGAS - This Week: SMU Nike Classic
Fri. Sept. 15 at SMU Dallas, Texas 7:30 p.m.
Sat. Sept. 16 vs. Tulsa Dallas, Texas 5:30 p.m.
Storyline:The UNLV men's soccer team dropped its past two matches in the UNLV Coors Classic last weekend in ovetime ... the Rebels now stand at 1-2-1 on the season with two tough road games this weekend in the 2000 SMU Nike Classic in Dallas, Texas ... looking to get back on the winning track, the Rebels battle perennial powers SMU on Friday and then Tulsa on Saturday, who comes off two wins last weekend at the UNLV Coors Classic against Loyola Marymount and St. Mary's ... junior Jason Melendez has score four goals in the past two games, giving him five goals on the season for the Rebels ... UNLV has had its last three games go into either overtime or double overtime.
UNLV Head Coach Barry Barto:The winningest coach in the history of Rebel soccer, Barto begins his 19th season at the helm of the UNLV men's program and his fourth as the school's Director of Soccer ... he has a record of 177-137-34 (.557) at UNLV and a career record of 262-162-40 (.608) in 24 years of coaching ... since his arrival in 1982, Barto has built Rebel soccer into a nationally recognized program, with five NCAA tournament appearances ... he recorded his 250th career win on Oct. 6, 1998 with the team's victory over St. Mary's.
About SMU:The Mustangs (2-2) come into the week off wins against Louisville, 2-1 and shocked No. 5 St. Louis, 3-2 ... coach Schellas Hyndman enters his 17th season at SMU with a record of 237-66-22 and is the third winningest active coach with a record of 335-90-33 in 24 years ... during the 1999 season, the Mustangs went 16-4 and earned a birth in the NCAA tournament, finishing in the second round ... ten starters return from last season including two first team All-Americans in juniors Carl Bussey and Mohamed Fahim recording 41 and 30 points respectively ... SMU jumps to the very competitive Missouri Valley Conference this season, which includes powers as Tulsa, Creighton and SW Missouri State.
About Tulsa:The Golden Hurricane begin the week 2-1 after two wins in the UNLV Coors Classic last weekend ... the Golden Hurricane defeated a pair of West Coast Conference teams in 2-1 decisions against St. Mary's and Loyola Marymount ... Head Coach Tom McIntosh is in his sixth season at Tulsa with a record of 51-40-4 and returns 14 letterwinners from last season's 9-8 squad and 6-4 in the WAC for a second place finish ... a three-time first team all-WAC selection in Robbie Aristodemo returns to the Golden Hurricane, who also had two assists in the Coors Classic to put him in sixth place on the school's all-time assist leader board ... also returning is forward Eric Dominguez, who is tied for third on the team with three goals.
