Sept. 1, 2002
New Mexico 3, Marshall 0
Box Score
LAS VEGAS - A 2-0 start of the season was made possible as UNLV men's soccer player Jordan Brent (North Royalton, Ohio) scored the game-winning goal leading up to a 4-1 blowout of Northern Illinois Sunday afternoon at Peter Johann Memorial Field.
Despite the scoring margin, the Rebels came back from a 1-0 early deficit in the first half. At the 16:05 minute mark, Northern Illinois freshman Thomas Meiner scored an unassisted goal off a turnover by the Rebel defense in-front of the net.
Later in the 23rd minute, junior midfielder Alex Hernandez (Indio, Calif.) put-in the give-and-go goal from 25-yards out off an assist from sophomore Brendon Bain (Beaverton, Ore.) to level the game at 1-1. Brent, a freshman forward, followed up at 40:21 with the eventual game-winner off a throw-in from Bain and a flicked header from senior Reggie Bolden (Jacksonville, Ark.).
Newcomers Espen Sjoevoll (Heimdal, Norway) and Rod Dyachenko (Vancouver, Wash.) each scored their first career UNLV goals in the second half. Sjoevoll, a junior transfer from the University of Charleston, dribbled the ball down the left side and beat out two defenders for the Rebels' third goal of the match at 69:46.
Dyachenko, a freshman midfielder, scored off a goalkeeper save from a shot taken by senior Tuomas Talvio (Helsinki, Finland) in the 73rd minute.
Senior goalkeeper Justin Dennis (Scottsdale, Ariz.) played 81 minutes in goal with three saves, while freshman Ben Stollerman (Park City, Utah) took over duties between the posts in the final minutes of regulation.
UNLV (2-0) will next face its toughest opponents of the 2002 season playing Big East Conference powerhouses preseason No. 18-ranked Boston College and preseason No. 6 Connecticut at the UConn Soccer Classic on Sept. 6 and 8 in Storrs, Conn. Both teams advanced to last year's NCAA Men's College Cup. The Rebels last defeated the defending national champion and fifth-ranked Huskies in 2001 with a 6-1 upset in Las Vegas.
