July 8, 2015 LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - Men's soccer standout
Salvador Bernal has been named the UNLV Sportsman of the Year for 2014-15, while women's golfer
Dana Finkelstein won the Sportswoman of the Year award for the second straight year, UNLV Athletics announced Wednesday.
Bernal was one of the key factors in the UNLV men's soccer team making its move back to national prominence in 2014. The Las Vegas native completed one of the finest careers in UNLV history in 2014, as he became the first player since 1991, and third all-time, to earn All-America honors after receiving third team honors by the NSCAA and second team by College Soccer News.
Almost as impressive, Bernal is the only Rebel to be named first team all-conference all four years and the first to be named all-region three times. In January, he became the fourth player all-time at UNLV to be drafted by the MLS, as he was a fourth-round selection by Toronto FC.
The 2014 WAC Offensive Player of the Year, Bernal was the offensive leader for one of the top scoring teams in the nation, as the Rebels were tied for fourth with 44 total goals during the season, which also paced the Western Athletic Conference He ranked in the top five in the league in both goals (eight) and points (19) despite missing five games with an injury. He was tied for the WAC lead in game-winning goals with three, which included the only goal in a 1-0 upset victory over No. 14 UMBC, an eventual College Cup participant, in September in Las Vegas.
His stellar play helped lead the Rebels to one of the best seasons in school history. UNLV swept WAC regular season and tournament championships en route to reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1988. The Rebels also received their first national ranking since 1992 after making an appearance at No. 23 in Soccer America in the Sept. 16 poll. The team's final record of 14-5-3 tied for the fifth-most wins in program history. The 14 total wins also tied for the eighth-best in the nation in 2014.
Bernal finished his career at UNLV eighth all-time in career points with 68, 10th in career goals with 26 and 10th in career assists with 16.
Finkelstein capped off an amazing career by capturing three victories during her senior season, making her the winningest golfer in women's golf history with five tourney crowns. She finished the season as the runner-up for the ANNIKA Award, which is given to the top women's golfer in the country, and was ranked fourth individually by Golfweek.com, sixth by the World Amateur Golf rankings and 11th by Golfstat.
For the third consecutive year Finkelstein took home Mountain West Golfer of the Year honors, making her only the second golfer in conference history to earn the award three times in a career. She was a unanimous First Team All-America selection after being named to the Women's Golf Coaches Association First Team and Golfweek Magazine's First Team.
The Chandler, Arizona, native turned in a spectacular junior year and was able to perform even better as a senior. Finkelstein's three victories were the most in program history in a single season. Her first win came at the Branch Law Firm/Dick McGuire Invitational, where she led wire-to-wire. She captured her second victory of the year at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown, but needed a career-best 7-under-par 65 in the third round to secure the win.
Despite not winning a tournament during the spring portion of the regular season, Finkelstein turned in two top-five finishes in four tournaments, giving her five during the regular season. She added another top-five finish after placing third at the Mountain West Championship. Her third win of the season came at the NCAA St. George Regional. It was only the second time in UNLV women's golf history that a Rebel has won a regional outright. She had, arguably, the best single-round performance in program history, turning in a 4-under 67 and was the only player to post a score below par at 2-under 211 (72-72-67) for the tournament.
Her finish at the regional helped the team qualify for its fourth NCAA Championship. Finkelstein led the team to a 16th-place finish and she finished tied for 18th, which is the third best individual performance by a Rebel at the championship tournament.
Finkelstein finished the season with the lowest average score in the Mountain West at 71.82, which is the lowest single-season average in program history. She finished her career with third lowest scoring average all-time at UNLV with 73.26.
The UNLV Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards are presented annually to the athletics department's top male and female athletes, taking only athletic performance during the past year into account.
