Women's Soccer

Rebels Come Up Short in Mountain West Opener

Sept. 23, 2016

Final Stats

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV women's soccer entered its Mountain West Conference opener against San Jose State with the best record in the league at 7-2-0, but couldn't overcome two early goals by the Spartans, losing 2-1 at Peter Johann Memorial Field on Friday night.

San Jose State got out to a quick start, scoring two goals in the first 10 minutes to build a 2-0 lead. The first came on a rebound after a free kick from the far right side of the box in the fourth minute. After a Spartan sent a cross in on the kick, the ball bounced around and the Rebels weren't able to clear it. Instead, the ball found the foot of Darriell Franklin, who blasted it past everyone for the score. Just over four minutes later, SJSU was again on the attack as Kristen Amarikwa battled the ball away from a Rebel defender and fed it to Yanitza Arista, who sent a rocket into the upper right corner from 22 yards out.

 UNLV fought back and cut the lead in half in the 29th minute after Katie Ballou pushed the ball up the middle of the field and found Lily Sender to her left, who buried it in the back of the net. The score was Sender's fifth of the season -- a team-best on the year for the Rebels.

Despite dominating for the final 80 minutes of the game and putting together several scoring chances in the attack, it was one of those nights where the ball just couldn't seem to find the net. Trailing 2-1 at half, UNLV had out-shot the Spartans 9-4 and by the end of the game that margin was at 21-7, with 13 of the Rebel shots coming on goal compared to just four for San Jose State. Coming back from the early goals was also a challenge against the Spartans, as SJSU had entered the contest first in the league in goals allowed.

Overall, head coach Chris Shaw was pleased with the effort of his team, but was understandably disappointed by the result. "With the exception of allowing those two goals early, I thought we were dominant throughout the game," said Shaw. "So I'm happy with the performance, just disappointed we didn't get the result we wanted."

 UNLV (7-3-0, 0-1-0) wraps up its four game homestand on Sunday afternoon at Peter Johann Memorial Field against Fresno State, who had its five-match winning streak snapped on Friday night at Nevada, Reno. Game time is set for 12 p.m.

 -UNLV-
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Players Mentioned

Katie Ballou

#6 Katie Ballou

Midfielder
5' 6"
Freshman
HS
Lily Sender

#29 Lily Sender

Forward
5' 9"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Katie Ballou

#6 Katie Ballou

5' 6"
Freshman
HS
Midfielder
Lily Sender

#29 Lily Sender

5' 9"
Freshman
Forward