Sept. 23, 2011
LONG BEACH, Calif. (UNLVRebels.com) - Eighth-ranked UC Irvine scored twice in each half to give the UNLV Rebels a 4-0 loss on Friday night in men's college soccer action at Anteater Stadium.
The Rebels (1-6) had their chances on offense in the first half, taking a total of seven shots to six for UCI (8-1). It was the host Anteaters that would find the back of the net though, with the night's first goal coming in the 20th minute on a give and go between Marco Franco and Christian Hernandez that resulted in a score by Lester Hayes III. Hernandez factored in the other goal of the first half when he sent a long pass to Juan Gutierrez, who scored in the 45th minute for a 2-0 UCI lead.
The lead stayed at two for the next 30 minutes. UCI increased its edge to three in the 80th minute when Miguel Ibarra collected a deflected pass and redirected the ball into the goal for a 3-0 lead. The day's final goal came off a corner kick by Norby Rodriguez that was headed into the net by Bryan Breslin in the 88th minute.
Though UNLV held a 7-6 shot advantage in the first half, UCI held the Rebels to just two in the second half while taking 10 of their own, for a final 16-9 edge. Two Rebels finished with two shot attempts each, Richard Abrego and Nick Marshall. Both teams had four corner kicks each. In goal was Simon Cook for UNLV, and he finished with six saves, while Andrew Fontein posted two saves for the Anteaters.
UNLV returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 1, as it hosts New Mexico in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener for both teams at 7 pm at Peter Johann Memorial Field.
