Sept. 2, 2007
LAS VEGAS - Facing a barrage of shots from Arizona State, the UNLV women's soccer team played strong defense, especially in the net, to win its second straight game with a 2-1 victory over the Sun Devils in the final game of the UNLV adidas Classic on Sunday afternoon from Peter Johann Memorial Field. The win pushed the Rebels' record to 2-0 on the season, the third 2-0 start in school history, while ASU dropped to 1-1. In the day's first game, Cal State Fullerton and Idaho State played to a 1-1 double-overtime tie.
"This was an exciting way to start the season," said UNLV head coach Kat Mertz. "We've got some work to do but this game showed us that we can work through it and come out with a win."
ASU outshot the home Rebels by a 23-12 margin, including 10-0 in the first 20 minutes of the game, but they could not get past UNLV goalkeeper Alicia Lugo, who had her second outstanding game in goal. Lugo finished the game with nine saves, including several acrobatic ones.
After the first 20 minutes the Rebels did not allow another shot the rest of the first half. They would then get four of their own, and scored on the first and fourth shots. The first goal came in the 32nd minute. As the Rebels were awarded a corner kick, freshman Amanda Forrester entered the contest and immediately headed a corner kick from Katie Carney into the goal from 15 yards out.
The next goal also came on a header and Forrester was involved again. A Sun Devil foul 40 yards out gave UNLV a free kick and Forrester sent the ball high into the box, where sophomore Brianna Moore headed it in from 10 yards out for another Rebel goal, this one coming in the 37th minute.
ASU would get on the scoreboard early in the second half when Karin Volpe dribbled into the box and unleashed a shot at Lugo from 15 yards. Lugo blocked the shot but the ball rebounded back to Volpe, who then drilled it into the right post for the Sun Devil score, making it 2-1. ASU had several more chances the rest of the half, but Lugo posted five saves over the final 45 minutes to give UNLV the win.
The Rebels will next take their first-ever trip to the state of Florida, where they will play in the UCF Invitational in Orlando. In the first game UNLV will take on the host UCF Knights on Friday at 4:30 pm (PST). The second game of the weekend is against South Carolina, who will be coming off an upset of top-ranked North Carolina on Sept. 1. That game will be at 8 am (PST) on Sunday.
