Nov. 9, 2001

FRESNO, Calif. - In the semifinals of the 2001 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship, eighth-seeded New Mexico upset the fifth-seeded UNLV men's soccer team, 3-0, Friday night at Bulldog Stadium on the campus of Fresno State in Fresno, Calif.

Defeating top-seeded Sacramento State yesterday, the Lobos were seeking revenge against the Rebels after UNLV handed UNM a 4-1 blowout in the MPSF regular season conference closer on Nov. 4 in Albuquerque, N.M.

The Lobos got out in front early with a pair of goals by Gamal Douglas on a header at 37:54 and Stian Ericksen unassisted at 44:13. New Mexico would sustain the 2-0 lead into halftime.

UNLV would not be able to recover in the second half, after New Mexico's William Junot found a breakaway pass from teammate Javier Carrasco and centered the ball toward the goal for the eventual 3-0 shutout. The Rebels had advanced to today's semifinals by winning a double overtime shootout (4-1) versus fourth-seeded San Diego State, which officially ended in a 3-3 tie and UNLV moving on.

New Mexico outshot the Rebels 17-7, to take the victory and advance to the MPSF championship game on Sunday, Nov. 11, where they will meet the winner of No. 7 seed Fresno State and No. 3 seed Denver. This is the first time in MPSF tournament history for higher seeded teams to fall to lower seeds.

The Rebels conclude the year at 8-8-2 overall to mark their second consecutive winning season, while the Lobos go to 5-11-2 overall.

New Mexico  2   1   -   3UNLV        0   0   -   0
SCORING SUMMARYUNM - Gamal Douglas (Ty Hibbert), 37:54.UNM - Stian Eriksen (unassisted), 44:13.UNM - William Junot (Javier Carrasco), 69:29.
SHOTSUNM (17), UNLV (7)
CORNER KICKSUNM (6), UNLV (6)
GOALKEEPER SAVESUNM (4) - Andrew WeberUNLV (6) - Justin Dennis