Sept. 16, 2009
LAS VEGAS -
UNLV weekly women's soccer notes
For the second time this season the UNLV women's soccer team (2-2-3) will be on a road trip, and the Rebels hope this weekend will be successful as the first one, in which they went 1-0-1 against a pair of ACC teams in North Carolina. This week it will be a much shorter trip with UNLV going off to California for a pair of games, at San Francisco on Friday for a 5 pm contest and at Saint Mary's on Sunday afternoon for a 1 pm game.
UNLV will be hoping to do better offensively then its first road trip, as it managed just one goal which came in a 1-0 win at NC State. The scoring did pick up this past week, with the Rebels scoring a pair of goals against Ohio State and posting a 1-1 tie against UC Irvine. It's been a balanced effort by the Rebels in 2009, as two players have two goals each, while three more all have one goal this year for UNLV.
The Rebels come into this weekend having played three straight overtime contests, including two that went the full distance. San Francisco can almost match that feat, as both of its games went to extra periods last weekend. This is the third meeting between UNLV and USF, with the Rebels having won the first two, while Sunday's contest will be the first-ever between Saint Mary's and UNLV.
Players To Watch
The offense thus far this year has come from senior midfielder Shannon Hughes, who has two goals, both are game-winners, with the second a penalty kick score against NC State on Sept. 3 in a 1-0 win. Freshman forward Collete Jepson has also scored twice this year to share the team lead with Hughes with four points. Junior midfielder Amanda Forrester is next with three points (one goal, one assist), while senior Jamie McCoy and sophomore Jenna Larkin each have on goal each.
Senior Alicia Lugo meanwhile has kept up her strong play in the nets. She has a 1.03 GAA and two shutouts, and leads the MWC with 47 saves.
Scouting San Francisco
The Dons won four of their first five games of the year, all by shutout, but in their two most recent contests were taken to double-overtime ties, 0-0 at UC Riverside on Sept. 11 and 1-1 at Cal State Fullerton on Sept. 13.
Pacing the team this season offensively is Kristina Hall with four goals for eight points, while Lauren Maris is next on the team with two goals and two assists for six points. Laura Gordon is third with two goals and an assist for five points. In goal has been Kelly Pohle, who has posted a 0.44 GAA with two shutouts and 16 saves in 610 minutes of action.
Scouting Saint Mary's
The Gaels of Saint Mary's have looked strong the past two weeks, with wins in three of four games while the lone loss was 2-1 to 10th-ranked Texas A&M. The victories include a 2-1 win at Texas, and two more one-goal wins over SMU and Portland State.
Leading the team this season is Daelyn Paul with four goals and an assist for nine points. Also with nine points is Jess Menzhuber, while Christin Tognetti has chipped in a pair of goals for four points. In goal for the squad is Tara Larson, who is boasting a 1.33 GAA with 29 saves and one shutout.
