April 16, 2009
LAS VEGAS - The UNLV Rebels began the 2008 season with a 3-0 start for only the third time in the 35-year history of men's soccer. UNLV's strong start sparked them to an impressive first half of the season, in which they were 5-2-1 going into Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. The Rebels were ranked 10th in the NSCAA Far West Region in the opening months, and were also receiving votes in the NSCAA Top 25 poll for the first time this decade.
With their hopes high on challenging for a conference title, the Rebels were instead handed a big setback in the opening weekend of league play, in which it lost two one-goal decisions on the road. Returning home to Las Vegas, UNLV kept itself alive in the conference hunt with a three-game win streak, which included a 4-1 rout of Sacramento State and 2-1 wins over San Jose State and New Mexico. Standing at 3-2 in league play, the Rebels were looking to continue their win streak on the road, but were suffered three straight tough losses, all by one goal, and the Rebels lost twice more in Las Vegas to close out the season at 8-9-1 overall, the best record for the squad since 2002.
Several key players throughout the season impacted the Rebels improvement in 2008. Senior Lamar Neagle led the way for UNLV by scoring a league-high nine goals on the season. He also finished second in points with 18, which helped him earn both NCSSA Far-West Regional second team and first-team all-league honors. Sophomore Danny Cruz was right behind Neagle in scoring, as she was tied seventh in points with 13 and seventh in goals with five while also joining Neagle on the first-team all-conference squad. Following the season, Cruz would become the first Rebel ever to leave school early to be drafted by the MLS, as he was selected by the Houston Dynamo as the 41st selection.
Two more Rebels were honored by the MPSF, as freshman midfielder Nicholas DeLeon was a second-team selection, while senior forward Ben Haugland was named honorable mention. Another Rebel that made an impact during the season was senior Hawk Mummey. In his first year on the squad, Mummey played the entire season between the pipes and finished third in the MPSF with 68 saves, while also posting a 1.24 GAA and two shutouts.
