Nov. 8, 2006
LAS VEGAS -
UNLV women's soccer NCAA Tournament notes vs. UCLA
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Rebels meet third-ranked UCLA in NCAA First Round
For the third straight year UNLV is traveling to California for its NCAA appearance, as the Rebels will take on third-ranked UCLA on the Bruins' home field on Friday night for their first-round matchup. The game marks the second time in their nine-year history the Rebels will play a top-five team, and both times it was against UCLA. In the only other previous meeting between the schools, the No. 5 Bruins scored with just three seconds left to top UNLV 1-0 in Las Vegas during the 2003 season.
While UCLA brings a 17-3 record into the tournament, UNLV needed to play its way into the event after finishing the regular season at 8-10-1. The Rebels did just that in perhaps the most exciting tournament performance of any team last weekend. UNLV won its opener in the Mountain West Tournament on a goal with two seconds left against Wyoming, 1-0. The Rebels followed that by topping BYU in a penalty kick shootout 4-1 following a scoreless double-overtime tie, and then shocked Utah on its own home field in the MWC championship game, again winning a PK shootout, this time 6-5 following another scoreless double-overtime game. With the one goal against Wyoming, UNLV became the first women's soccer team in NCAA history to win a conference tournament (playing three games) while scoring just one goal total.
Friday's game is also a homecoming for UNLV head coach Kat Mertz, who is in her second year at the helm of the Rebels. Mertz spent five years as an assistant on the UCLA staff (2000-2004), before accepting the UNLV head job in April of 2005.
Players to watch
As she did the past two years, junior forward Katie Carney is once again leading the Rebels in scoring, as her goal in the MWC first round against Wyoming gave her four on the year, and her three assists give her 11 points on the season. She is actually tied for the team lead with junior midfielder Armani Rice, who has a team-high five goals and one assist for 11 points. Rice 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 along with nine points (three goals, three assists), and was named the MWC Tournament MVP.
In goal, freshman Alicia Lugo has taken over the starting position after sophomore Ciera Nero suffered a right knee injury in the MWC First Round on Wednesday. Lugo made her first start in over six weeks in the semifinal game against BYU. For the tournament she had 20 saves and did not allow a goal over 280 minutes as UNLV shut out all three opponents. For the season, Lugo has a 0.76 GAA with 36 saves and three shutouts.
NCAA Tournament Game Stats LIVE!!!!!!!!!
Live game stats will be available for this weekend's first and second round, on Gametracker ,which will be available via the UNLV official athletic website at www.UNLVRebels.com
Last time out
For the second straight year UNLV claimed the Mountain West tournament championship, as the Rebels topped 10th-ranked and top-seeded Utah 6-5 in a penalty kick shootout on Nov. 4.
Saturday's game also finished officially as a double-overtime tie, which marked the first time this year a MWC team has held Utah scoreless.
The Utes controlled the first half of the game, keeping possession for the majority of the half while holding a 7-3 advantage on shots. Though Utah held an 8-3 edge on shots in the second half, the Rebels were more active in the second half, taking the game to the Utes and challenging every 50-50 ball, which helped UNLV disrupt the Utah offense in the second half.
Both team's best chances came in the second half. Utah's Jen Christoffers came down the right side and unloaded a high shot toward the goal that Rebel goalkeeper Alicia Lugo had to leave her feet and make a leaping save to stop the shot in the 67th minute. Utah then nearly scored on its own goal near the end of the second half, as Kiley Jones attempted to clear out a cross from Jessica Destito, but her kick went back towards her own goal, and Ute goalkeeper Ashley Mason recovered just in time to tip the ball over the cross bar and keep the game scoreless.
Both teams had chances in the first overtime, with Utah getting three shots to two for UNLV. The Utes had three more shots in the second extra period, but Lugo saved all three shots in the second overtime, part of her career-high 11 saves in the game.
With the game going into the PK shootout, the first four players for both teams all made their shots. Utah began the fifth round with Adele Letro seeing her PK blocked by Lugo, but it was ruled that Lugo moved early, giving Letro another shot. Letro connected this time, but freshman Taylor Fuentes placed her shot past Mason to tie the shootout at 5-5, sending it to the sixth round. Melissa Crespo was up for the Utes, and sent her shot high over the net, setting up the Rebels for the potential win. UNLV's Armani Rice sealed it, blasting a shot off the crossbar and down into the goal to give the Rebels the tournament title.
Scouting the Bruins
UCLA is the second seed in the region, yet ranked third overall entering this year's NCAA Tournament after posting a 17-3 overall record during the regular season. The Bruins also claimed the Pac-10 championship with a 7-1 regular-season record, becoming the first time in league history to win the title four straight years. Of the three losses during the year, all three came on the road, two to top-five teams (at then-No. 3 Penn State and No. 5 Santa Clara). UCLA was undefeated at home with a 12-0 mark, and owns a 23-game unbeaten streak at Drake Stadium. UCLA has also won 11-straight NCAA matches at home, dating back to a loss to Texas A&M in 2003. Even more impressively, the Bruins have allowed just two goals scored at home this season.
Leading the team is freshman forward Lauren Cheney, who ranks fourth nationally in goals per game, and has 15 goals for 30 points on the season. Danesha Adams is next with 17 points off seven goals and three assists, while Christina DiMartino has tallied four goals and five assists this season. In goal is Valerie Henderson, who has a 0.56 GAA with 45 saves and eight shutouts in 1,436 minutes of action.
Another year, another trophy, another NCAA appearance
For the third straight year, the Rebels can list MWC Champions after their name, as UNLV won its second-consecutive MWC tournament championship title with its 6-5 PK shootout win over 10th-ranked Utah. In 2005, UNLV topped New Mexico 1-0 in overtime in the tournament championship game, and the Rebels won their first-ever MWC regular season championship with a 5-1 league mark in 2004.
With the tournament title, the Rebels received the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. This is also the third-straight year UNLV is playing in the NCAAs, as the Rebels were an at-large selection in 2004.
UNLV's NCAA History
In their first-ever NCAA appearance in 2004, UNLV took on 21st-ranked San Diego, and played a very tight and competive match against the Toreros, but fell on a golden goal in the second overtime from Marie-Claude Henry. In last year's tournament, the Rebels again took their opponent to overtime, this time 15th-ranked Cal State Fullerton, but the Titans would prevail thanks to an own goal after UNLV was unable to kick a spinning ball off its own goalline.
New NCAA record
With its tournament run this past weekend, UNLV made its mark in women's soccer history, as the Rebels are the only team to ever win a conference tournament championship while scoring just one goal total (over three games). UNLV scored once against Wyoming in the final seconds, and won PK shootouts following scoreless double-overtime ties against BYU and Utah.
PK champions
One lesson learned from this past weekend is to never get in a penalty kick shootout against the Rebels. UNLV was a perfect 10-of-10 in the two PK shootout wins, as the Rebels went 4-of-4 against BYU, to win 4-1 after two of the Cougars shots were blocked. UNLV then made all six against Utah, the sixth coming after Utah send its sixth shot high over the goal.
Freshman stands tall in goal
Making her first start in six weeks and facing the 19th-ranked BYU Cougars didn't faze freshman goalkeeper Alicia Lugo. Taking over in goal for Ciera Nero, who is out for the season after suffering a knee injury against Wyoming in the MWC First Round, Lugo came up with four saves to keep the game scoreless and send it to the PK shootout. That is where Lugo really starred, as she stopped BYU's first two PKs (in fact, she stopped three, as it was ruled she left early on the first one, but simply blocked the PK again after the restart). BYU finally connected on its third PK attempt, but UNLV made its first four attempts to win the shutout. Lugo then came up big again against Utah, making a career-high 11 saves against the 10th-ranked Utes in the MWC championship game.
National Honors
Three Rebels have been named to national Teams of the Week this season, most recently Alicia Lugo on Nov. 8 after posting 20 saves while leading UNLV to three shutouts against Wyoming, #19 BYU, and #10 Utah to win the MWC Tournament Title. Armani Rice was named to Top Drawer Soccer's national Team of the Week on Oct. 16 after scoring a pair of final minute game-winners against New Mexico and TCU. Tanya Roberts was also a Soccer America Team of the Week honoree, on Oct. 4 after scoring the game-winner in overtime in a 1-0 win over No. 20 Pepperdine.
Last-second heroics
Katie Carney's game-winning goal with just two seconds left to beat Wyoming in the MWC First round was not the first time this year UNLV scored in the final seconds. The Rebels were down to their final chance against Oregon State on Aug. 27, but Armani Rice emerged from a battle with possesion of the ball, found Brie Kuhne 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 has now won or earned a tie in the final two minutes of regulation four times in the last two seasons, including three 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).
Once again proving the coaches wrong
Three straight years, UNLV has proven the preseason predicitions wrong, as for the third straight year, the Rebels were picked the finish fourth in the preseason MWC coaches poll, yet finished the year as conference champions all three years. UNLV posted top-three regular-season finishes all three years, including winning the regular-season championship in 2004, finishing second in 2005 and winning the MWC Tournament, and placing third in this year's regular-season final standings before claiming the tournament title over Utah.
Carney is Sweet November
Taking a cue from Mr. October, Katie Carney knows how to show up in the month of November. The junior forward, who was selected as the 2005 MWC Tournament MVP after scoring two game-winners in UNLV's three tournament wins, including the lone goal in the overtime win over New Mexico in the championship game, added to that performance with her game-winner against Wyoming in the MWC first round, giving her two straight game-winners in two MWC Tournament games, and three out of the last six for UNLV.
Carney named Academic All-District
Katie Carney is not limiting her excellence to just on the field, as the junior forward was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District second team, announced on Nov. 2. Carney boasts a 3.64 cumaltive GPA while majoring in broadcasting, and has made the Dean's list every semester at UNLV.
Four Rebels named All-Conference
For the second straight year, four Rebels were named to the All-Mountain West Conference teams. Sophomore defender Brie Kuhne was named to the first team, while junior midfielder Erica Jensen, junior forward Armani Rice, and senior midfielder Tanya Roberts were all named second team. It was the first all-conference honors for Kuhne, Rice, and Jensen.
Iron Woman
Senior midfielder Tanya Roberts has been one of the mainstays in the Rebel lineup during her four-year career at UNLV, and with Saturday's start, she set a new school record for most career games played at UNLV. Roberts has now started in 82 career games for the Rebels after starting all 22 contests this season, topping the previous mark of 81, set by Tania Lee in 2003. The 2006 MWC All-Conference Second 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.
One streak does fall
While the MWC semifinal game officially will go down as a tie, UNLV did break a streak against the Cougars, stopping its 10-game losing streak to BYU. This was the second time the teams had played in the MWC Tournament as well, with BYU winning the 2001 title in a 2-1 win. BYU still leads the all-time series 10-0-1.
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.
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.
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.
