Oct. 25, 2006
LAS VEGAS - The young Rebel men's soccer team continues its three-game road trip, as the Rebels travel to California for two MPSF battles this weekend. UNLV takes on the Spartans of San Jose State Thursday night at 7 pm, before traveling to Sacramento to take on the Hornets of Sacramento State Sunday at 1 p.m. The Rebels are coming off a heartbreaker this past Saturday, falling to nationally ranked New Mexico 1-0 in overtime.
The Rebels will need more offense this weekend, after only scoring two goals over the last three contests. Sophomore midfielder Nicholas Paterson leads the Rebels with nine points, having dished out a team-best five assists. Fellow second-year man Lamar Neagle leads the team with three goals, also having recorded two assists on the season. Freshman Ben Haugland and Marcos Balladares each have scored twice in 2006, with Hakim Zermouni and Martin Kenny also having each added a pair of tallies. Freshman keeper Calvin Bailey has played well of late, making three saves against the Lobos last weekend.
San Jose State (6-8-1, 3-4) entertains the Rebels after defeating them 2-1 in Las Vegas. The Spartans are the conference's lowest scoring team, having scored only 11 goals in the teams 15 games so far. SJSU keeper Richard Mann is third in the conference in saves, making about four a game. Hiroki Akiyama paces the attack for the Spartans, scoring twice and helping on two others. Ed Brand and Colby Moore each have scored twice on the year.
After taking on San Jose State, the Rebels take on the top scoring team in Sacramento State (5-10-1, 2-4-1). Sac State has averaged almost six and a half points per contest, two more than any other team in the league. The MPSF's top five point leaders come from SSU, with Zlaten Kuckovic and Eli Millan leading the way. Kuckovic has 18 points, scoring seven tallies which is tops in the league, while Millan has a conference-leading six assists. Hornet goalie Ryan Kenny has allowed just nine goals this year, and leads the MPSF in saves with a little over five a match.
The Rebels return to Peter Johann Field on the Friday, November 3rd at 7 p.m. for a conference match with the Pioneers of Denvery. Two days after that, the Falcons of Air Force are welcomed in for Senior Day at 1 p.m. Once again this season, live stats for all home UNLV games will be available on GameTracker on the UNLV athletics website, which can be accessed at www.unlvrebels.com.
