Sept. 28, 2014 LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
Freshman forward Danny Musovski scored just minutes into the game and UNLV added a second half score to claim a 2-0 victory over UC Riverside in men's college soccer action on Sunday afternoon at Peter Johann Memorial Field. The win, coming in the final game of the Rebel Classic, improved UNLV to 6-2-1 in its final non-conference action. The six wins are the most for UNLV in non-conference play since the the 2009 squad went 6-2-2.
"The non-conference is so important in building momentum when going into conference games," said UNLV head coach Rich Ryerson. "We had a draw and two losses in our past three games, so it was very important for us to come out today and recover. We were able to get both the win and a shutout."
Musovski scored his second goal of the season and second of the weekend in the fourth minute to put UNLV ahead 1-0. Rodrigo Fuentes started the play when from the left side he sent a low shot cross cage that would have just missed the right post, but Musovski came in to tap the ball into the goal for the score. That would be the halftime lead as well, as UNLV held a 6-3 edge on shots in the first half, with just one UCR (1-6-1) shot coming on goal, that was stopped by starting goalkeeper Abdel Rodriguez.
Ryan Harding started the second half in goal for the Rebels, and would collect three saves to complete the shutout for the Rebels. The lead grew to 2-0 in the second half thanks to the persistent play from Fuentes, who challenged UCR goalkeeper Ashkan Khosravi when he attempted to clear the ball. Fuentes would block the kick with his body and the ball rolled past Khosravi. Fuentes ran to the ball and then walked it into the goal for the score in the 58th minute. That combined with a red card on the Highlanders in the 62nd minute, forcing them to play with just 10 players the rest of the way, effectively sealed the win for UNLV.
The Rebels finished with a 12-6 edge on shots, 6-4 on shots on goal, and a 5-2 advantage on corner kicks. Khosravi posted four saves in goal for the Highlanders.
Musovski, Fuentes and Sebastian Hernandez were named to the all-tournament team from UNLV. The Rebels finished second in the event behind No. 4 UC Irvine, who topped Utah Valley on Sunday to finish 2-0 on the weekend.
The Rebels will return to action with the start of conference play, hosting Grand Canyon in their WAC opener on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 1 pm.
