Oct. 29, 2008
LAS VEGAS -
UNLV men's soccer notes at New Mexico
Riding a three-game win streak after winning all of its home conference games in the opening half of the league slate, the UNLV men's soccer team is hoping to continue that momentum as it returns to action on Friday night at New Mexico in a 6 pm (PST) contest.
Though the Rebels posted a 2-1 win over the Lobos just two weeks prior (Oct. 17 in Las Vegas), they will find the going tougher in Albuquerque, where they have not won since 2003, dropping the last four meetings. However, the last two seasons have seen very close games on the Lobos home field, with the home team pulling out a 1-0 win in 2006 and a 2-1 victory last season.
Not only is UNLV looking to break its losing streak at New Mexico, the game is also huge for both teams in the conference race. With Denver standing alone in first place at 5-0, neither team can allow any slip-up in their bid to challenge for the regular season title and the automatic NCAA berth that goes along with it. Standing at 3-2, the loser of Friday's game will most likely be out of the race for the championship, so both teams are expecting a tough and competitive contest.
Players To Keep An Eye On
UNLV is led offensively by a pair of high-scoring attackers, midfielder Lamar Neagle and forward Daniel Cruz. Neagle and Cruz rank 1-2 in the MPSF in scoring (14 and 13 points, respectively).
On defense, the biggest addition this year has been senior Hawk Mummey inside the net. Mummey is having one of the best years in recent memory by a Rebel goalkeeper, as he has a 0.97 GAA as well as two shutouts and 54 saves, which ranks second in the MPSF.
