Nov. 10, 2009
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -
UNLV men's soccer notes vs. San Jose State
UNLV begins action in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament on Thursday in the first round. The MPSF tournament returns for the first time since 2003 and will be hosted by the University of Denver in Denver, Colorado. The Rebels come in to the tournament as the number six seed and will face third seeded San Jose State on November 12th, at 3:30 pm in the first quarterfinal match.
UNLV beat San Jose State in regular season action on Oct. 30 in San Jose 1-0 off a goal from Will Ziegahn. The winner of the match will face number one seed and MPSF regular season champion Sacramento State who has a bye the first round.
The Rebels are 2-3 in MPSF tournament action since rejoining the conference in 1999. UNLV's last appearance ended in a 3-1 loss to Air Force in the 2003 quarterfinals.
Tournament game box scores, brief audio files from each coach and players, as well as the link to live stats will be available on the MPSF tournament page. You can access the page by going to www.denverpioneers.com.
Scouting The Rebels...
The biggest impact this year has come from freshman forward Nick Marshall, who is currently tied for second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation as well as 72nd in the nation with seven goals, while his 17 points also ranks him second in the league and 85th in the NCAA.
He's not the only freshman that ranks high in the league, as freshman midfielder Zach Kupfer is tied for 10th in the league in points (12) as well as tied for ninth in goals (five). Fellow classmate Roberto Farfan is also tied for eight in the MPSF with four assists. Junior midfielder Stephen Sifuentes also ranks in the top 10 in the conference as he is tied for fourth in points earned (16) and tied for second with Marshall for goals (seven). His seven goals also rank him 61st in the nation while his 16 points rank him 83rd.
Junior Roland Swanson currently has a 1.38 GAA and is tied for second in the conference with five shutouts.
Scouting the San Jose State Spartans...
San Jose State (9-9-1) comes into the MPSF tournament as the number three seed after going 4-3-0 in conference play. The Spartans dropped their last three MPSF contests with the most recent one coming to MPSF regular season champion Sacramento State.
Senior Nick Cukar has led the way offensively this season as he has scored seven goals and dished out one assist. Also helping out on offense for the Spartans has been sophomore Justin Castro who has added five goals and two assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Jonathan Lester has allowed 16 goals this season and is boasting a 0.93 GAA.
