Nov. 15, 2002
Box Score
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A penalty kick tiebreaker decided the match once again as the third-seeded UNLV men's soccer team fell to second-seeded San Jose State in a 5-4 shootout Friday night in the semifinals of the 2002 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Tournament held at the UNM Soccer Complex.
Three minutes into regulation, junior midfielder Alex Hernandez (Indio, Calif.) put the Rebels on the board first, after sending in a free kick rebounded off a defender deflection, for the 1-0 lead.
San Jose State retaliated back with three consecutive goals at 12:24 by Johnny Gonzalez, 31:48 by Frank Mata and 36:19 by Tony Chang for the 3-1 advantage.
In the 40th minute, senior Kelly Frederick (St. John's, Antigua) netted his 10th goal of the season off a rebound from two-yards out from freshman Salvatore Wise (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) to get UNLV back in motion.
Hernandez later notched the game-tying goal at 41:09 from 10-yards out off the right side. He is the team's and conference's leading scorer with 33 points on 11 goals and 11 assists. He becomes the first Rebel since 1990 to tabulate over 30 points in a single season (41 points - Doug Borgel).
The second half ended without a game-winning result, leading to the second straight overtime period for the Rebels in two days. Both teams had their chance of a game-winner in 20 minutes of extra play, but a penalty kick shootout became necessary in deciding which team would advance to the MPSF championship game.
Sophomore Brendon Bain (Beaverton, Ore.), Frederick, junior Leandro Iocco (Rosario, Argentina) and Hernandez successfully put in the first four penalty kicks, while sophomore Chris Henderson (Henderson, Nev.) missed on the final attempt. Senior goalkeeper Justin Dennis (Scottsdale, Ariz.) made four saves in the contest and was not able to deflect the last PK made by SJSU's Johnny Gonzalez.
San Jose State (11-8) moves on to the conference tournament championship game to face the winner of fifth-seeded Denver and top-seeded New Mexico on Nov. 17 at 1 p.m. (MST).
UNLV (12-8) will await its postseason fate as the 48-team 2002 Division I Men's Soccer Championship bracket will be announced on ESPNEWS and www.ncaachampionships.com on Monday, Nov. 18 at approximately 1:30 p.m. (PST). Their 12 victories this season marks the most wins in a season since 1987 (14-5 - NCAA First Round).
*Note: A new rule in 2002 credits the winning team of a penalty kick tiebreaker in postseason play with a win to their overall record instead of a tie in the past. The losing team receives a loss.
