Oct. 30, 2006
LAS VEGAS -
UNLV MWC Tournament First Round Notes vs. Wyoming
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Rebels look for second straight MWC Tournament title
UNLV opens play in the 2006 Mountain West Conference Tournament on Wednesday, looking to win its second straight tournament title after winning the first in school history last year in Las Vegas.
The Rebels will come into this year's event knowing that they will need to claim the tournament title and receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA to keep their postseason streak alive, as UNLV has played in the NCAA Tournament in both of the past two years. This year however UNLV comes in with an 8-10-1 overall record after undergoing perhaps the toughest non-conference schedule in school history, as at one point they suffered four straight losses to regionally ranked opponents. UNLV showed they are still a power to be dealt with however, as they own a 1-0 upset over 20th-ranked Pepperdine earlier this season, and played No. 11 Utah very close in a 1-0 loss that opened the conference schedule.
To reach the championship game, UNLV will have the chance to avenge its last two losses of the regular season. The first round matchup is with Wyoming, who upset the Rebels 1-0 in Las Vegas on Oct. 22. If the Rebels get past the sixth-seeded Cowgirls on Wednesday, they would meet second-seed BYU on Thursday afternoon. The 23rd-ranked Cougars posted a 2-0 win over UNLV this past Saturday night in Provo.
If UNLV is to advance in the tournament, it will need to find its offense. The Rebels have been held scoreless the last two games, and struggled finding the back of the net in conference play, scoring just six goals over eight games.
UNLV is 3-3 all-time in the MWC first round, including three straight wins (the Rebels had a first-round bye in 2004). All-time, the Rebels are 6-5-1 in MWC Tournament play, while the Cowgirls are 0-7.
Players to watch
For the first time in three years, junior forward Katie Carney is not leading the Rebels in scoring, as junior midfielder Armani Rice has taken over the lead with five goals and one assist for 11 points. She also leads the team in game-winners with four, three of them coming in one-goal victories.
Junior forward Jessica Destito is second on the team with 10 points off three goals and four assists, while Carney is next on the team with nine points off three goals and three assissts. Another threat on offense is senior forward Tanya Roberts, who has two-game winners on the season, and for the year has nine points (three goals, three assists).
In goal, sophomore Ciera Nero has emerged as the starting keeper For the year, she has a 1.15 GAA with 59 saves and six shutouts.
Semifinals, Championship games to be televised
For the first time, the semifinals of the MWC Tournament will be broadcast on TV, as the mtn. will show both games on Thursday live, at 3:30 pm (PST) and 6 pm (PST). Saturday's championship game will be shown by CSTV on same-day tape-delay at 8 pm (PST).
All Tournament Game Stats LIVE!!!!!!!!!
Live game stats will be available for all five MWC Tournament games this year over the internet. The game stats will be available via the Mountain West Conference's official website at www.themwc.com.
Last time out BYU scored twice in the first half and held UNLV scoreless on the way to a 2-0 victory in the regular season finale for both teams on Saturday night in Provo, Utah.
The 23rd-ranked Cougars got on the board early in the first half after Katie Larkin was pulled down in the box, earning BYU a penalty kick in the 19th minute. Natalie Nate took the PK, and sent it to the far left corner where a diving Ciera Nero initially stopped the ball, but it slipped out of her grasp and just rolled over the goalline for the score.
Andrea Willis then scored the second goal of the night, picking up a loss ball in the box and shooting to the far right corner for a 2-0 Cougar edge with 34 seconds left to play in the first half.
BYU kept control for the majority of the game, holding a 17-5 edge on shots. The Cougars also held a 5-2 edge on corner kicks. Nero finished the game with 10 saves in goal, while Erika Woodbury posted three to earn the shutout.
Scouting the Cowgirls
Wyoming earned the sixth and final berth in the 2006 MWC Tournament thanks to its 1-0 win at UNLV on Oct. 22. That win was not only its only victory in the last five games of the regular season, it was also the only goal scored by the Cowgirls in the last four games of the year, following a 1-1 double-overtime tie at TCU on Oct. 13.
Scoring has been a problem for the Cowgirls all season, as they ranked second-to-last in the league in both goals with 16 (0.89 per game) and points with 43 (2.39 per game). In fact, they scored just a total of six goals total in league play in eight games. Keeping them in the game has been the play of their two goalkeepers, Jamie Scarcliff and Ashley Sheppard. Both goalkeepers rank first and second in the conference in saves per game, with 6.71 and 6.33 respectively. Sheppeard also is first in save percentage at 86.4%, while Scarcliff is third at .825. Sheppard currently owns a 1.07 GAA with and has five shutouts, while Scarcliff has a 1.44 GAA this season.
Leading the offense is Emily Layton, with a team-high three goals and three assists for nine points. Comfort Adetoye and Christine Nagle both are tied for second on the team in scoring with seven points, off two goals and three assists each.
Iron-woman
Senior midfielder Tanya Roberts has been one of the mainstays in the Rebel lineup during her four-year career at UNLV, and she is two games away from tying Tania Lee for the most career games ever by a player at UNLV, as she comes into this week's tournament with 79 career appearances. The 2005 MWC All-Conference First Team selection is currently eighth in UNLV history in points with 28, tied for eighth in goals with nine, and tied for fifth in assists with 10.
MWC Player of the Week honors
Junior defender Ashly O'Harrow was named MWC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 5, after helping the Rebels post back-to-back shutouts in the UNLV adidas Classic in a 3-0 win over UC Irvine and a 7-0 win over Oakland. She helped UNLV limit the teams to an average of eight shots over both games. Sophomore goalkeeper Ciera Nero was named Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 25, after posting back-to-back shutouts over North Dakota State and Creighton to lead UNLV to the Blue Jay Classic championships, and averaged 4.5 saves over the two wins. Senior midfielder Tanya Roberts became the first Rebel to win Offensive Player of the Week honors, as her second game-winning goal in three games gave UNLV a 1-0 win over 20th ranked Pepperdine in double-overtime on Oct. 1. Junior midfielder Armani Rice (Oct. 16) is the most recent Rebel to earn MWC weekly honors, after a pair of game-winners over New Mexico and TCU.
Solid in Goal
Sophomore Ciera Nero has emerged from a two-way battle for the starting goalkeeper spot. Starting with the Rebels' 1-0 win over North Dakota State, Nero posted three shutouts in a four-game span, and allowed just one goal in a 1-0 loss at Arizona State. She was named MWC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 25, and is boasting a 1.15 GAA with six shutouts.
National Honors
Armani Rice is the first Rebel to earn national honors this season, as she was named to Top Drawer Soccer's national Team of the Week on Oct. 16 after an outstanding weekend performance. She scored two game-winners in a pair of one-goal victories in the final minutes of both victories. In a 1-0 overtime win over New Mexico on Oct. 13, she scored nine minutes into the first overtime, while she broke a 1-1 tie against TCU on Oct. 15 with a score in the final two minutes of the game.
History in the Ranking
The Rebels claimed their first-ever win over a ranked team on Oct. 1, as Tanya Roberts headed in a free kick from Dani Davis in the 107th minute of the second overtime to lift UNLV to a 1-0 win over Pepperdine, ranked 20th by Soccer American, and 27th by Soccer Buzz.
Scoreless streak broken
UNLV broke its streak of 438 minutes without a goal with a quick score in the 4th minute of the game against North Dakota State in the first game of the Blue Jay Classic, on a goal by Armani Rice.
Rebels snap losing streak with back-to-back shutouts
The Rebels broke a four-game losing streak with back-to-back 1-0 shutout victories over North Dakota State (Sept. 22) and the host Creighton (Sept. 24) team to claim the Blue Jay Classic tournament title.
Blue Jay Classic Honors
Junior midfielder Erica Jensen was named the Blue Jay Classic Tournament MVP while leading UNLV to the tournament title with wins over NDSU and Creighton. Also named to the all-tournament team was Tanya Roberts, Jessica Destito, and Ciera Nero.
It's the Rebels by a Touchdown!!!
With UNLV's 7-0 rout of Oakland on Sept. 4, the Rebels posted their highest performance on offense in four years. The seven goals and the seven-goal win margin was the highest since the Rebels posted a 9-0 win over Nevada, Reno on Sept. 6, 2002.
Freshman class provides spark on offense
The freshman class came up strong on Monday against Oakland, scoring three of UNLV's seven goals, while also adding two assists. Finishing in the scoring was Brianna Moore (one goal), Shannon Hughes (one goal, one assist), and Niki Connolly (one goal, one assist).
Last second heroics
The Rebels were down to their final chance against Oregon State (Aug. 27), but with the clock counting down the final 10 seconds, Armani Rice emerged from a battle with possesion of the ball, and found sophomore Brie Kuhne all alone on the left side, and her shot crossed the goalline with just one second left in regulation to tie the game at 1-1. UNLV would end up escaping with the double-overtime tie on the score, the first in Kuhne's two-year career.
That marked the third time in the last two years the Rebels have won or earned a tie in the final two minutes of regulation, including twice in the last 10 seconds. Last year, Ashly O'Harrow scored with nine seconds left in a 1-0 win at Wyoming (Oct. 9), while Tanya Roberts scored the tying goal with two minutes to play in a 2-1 overtime win over San Diego State in the MWC semifinals (Nov. 3).
All-Tournament Rebels
Three Rebels were named to the Cougar Classic all-tournament team. Forward Katie Carney, who scored UNLV's lone goal against Washington State (Aug. 25) on a penalty kick, was joined by Tanya Roberts and Ashly O'Harrow.
