11/16/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 16, 2016
LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) -
UNLV NCAA First Round notes vs San Diego State
After a thrilling run to the WAC Tournament championship title, the UNLV Rebels are back in the NCAA Men's Soccer Tournament for the second time in three years, and hope to keep their momentum going when they take on 19th-ranked San Diego State in the first round on Thursday at the SDSU Sports Deck at 7 pm.
UNLV is the only team in this year's field with a losing record, but are riding a season-best four-game win streak, while its 10 overall victories are more then seven other schools in the 48-team field. This is the seventh all-time appearance for UNLV, who is 3-5 all-time in NCAA tournament play. SDSU meanwhile is making its first appearance since 2006, and is 9-6-1 all-time in the NCAA postseason event.
Thursday's game is also a rematch of a tightly fought contest from a year ago, won by UNLV 3-2 off a penalty kick in the 89th minute in San Diego. The Aztecs do hold a 19-11-5 edge in the all-time series. SDSU is also the second straight former MPSF rival the Rebels will face, following their win over Air Force in the WAC title contest. If UNLV advances past SDSU, they would take on Denver in the second round, making it a third straight former MPSF rival for the Rebels.
This tournament contest comes down to one team that excels on offense and struggles on defense, against a team that does that exact opposite. The Rebels are one of the top offensive teams in the nation, ranking 11th in goals scored this year with 38. That's helped partly by the play of junior forward Danny Musovski, who ranks ninth in the nation in goals with 12. On the defensive side though UNLV is 184th in team goals against average at 1.92. SDSU meanwhile has allowed just 12 goals all season long, and is 10th in the NCAA with a 0.62 team GAA. Scoring has been a struggle at times for the Aztecs, with just 18 on the year which ranks them 153rd in the nation.
After a slow start to the season, in which they started out with a 2-7 mark, the Rebels showed steady improvement over the next 13 contests. They have gone 8-4-1 since that opening run, and have posted 26 total goals, an average of two per game, after scoring just 12 in the first nine games. The Rebels can always be counted on to provide offense, and they were the only team in the WAC to not be shutout in a league game this season.
Thursday's game will be streamed live on the MW Digital Network, available online on UNLVRebels.com and on the Livestream channel on the Roku streaming box.
GAME TWENTY-THREE
NCAA FIRST ROUND
UNLV (10-11-1) at #19 San Diego State (9-4-5)
Thursday, Nov. 17 - 7 pm - San Diego, Calif. (SDSU SportsDeck)
Players Mentioned
Forward
/ Men's SoccerWednesday, October 28
Monday, October 26
Saturday, October 24
Friday, October 23
