LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV played a tight battle with eighth-ranked Air Force for the majority of the night, until the Falcons put the game away with a two-goal burst in the final six minutes of the game for a 5-2 win over the Rebels in WAC men's soccer action Friday from Peter Johann Memorial Field. The Rebels dropped to 9-8-1 overall, and stand in sixth place in the conference standings at 4-4-1 with two games left to go. Air Force meanwhile improved to 15-2 overall, 8-1 in league play. 

The Rebels were playing from behind right from the start when Tucker Bone scored the first of his two goals just two minutes in. Air Force looked to have control of the game with another score in the 17th minute, but UNLV would not go down without a fight. After nearly scoring on a long blast from Marco Gonzalez that hit the crossbar in the 20th minute, the Rebels would get on the scoreboard in the 21st minute to close within 2-1 thanks to Danny Moran's sixth goal of the season.

Air Force again took a two-goal lead in the 32nd minute. UNLV opened the second half though with a steal and score by Timo Mehlich in the 47th minute to make it a 3-2 contest. The Rebels would hold the Falcons without a shot for the next 20 minutes, and had the only three shots on goal for the next 36 minutes, all by Gonzalez that resulted in a team save and two more outstanding stops by Falcon goalkeeper Andrea Seazzu.

THE TURNING POINT: With the Rebels pressing up the attack in search of a tying score, the Falcons were able to take advantage in the 84th minute when they got behind the defense and got a second score from Bone in the 84th minute for a two-goal lead. Less than three minutes later the Falcons added to the lead in the 87th minute for a 5-2 advantage to seal the win.

STAT OF THE GAME: While both teams had seven shots on goal each, the Falcons came up with five total saves (one team save) to two for the Rebels.

QUOTABLE: "We started by giving up a goal in the first two minutes, there's a reason Air Force is the eighth-best team in the nation, and its because they are great at converting and finishing goals. They capitalized on a couple of our mistakes in the first half, and its hard to be down 3-1 at halftime. I thought we came back and scored quick in the second half to make it 3-2. I think we were trying to press to much at the end of the second half with they got the last two goals. You risk when you press but we were trying to tie the game so it's one of those things. We get after it again Sunday and hope we get the result we need to clinch a spot in the WAC tournament."
- Head coach Rich Ryerson

REBEL NOTES: 
* Air Force was the highest ranked team to play at Peter Johann Memorial Field since No. 4 UC Irvine on Sept. 26, 2014.
* Freshman Nico Classen assisted on the Rebels' first goal thanks to his free kick that led to the Moran score. That gives him nine for the season, just one off the UNLV freshman record of 10, set by Daniel Barber in 1989.
* UNLV lost for just the second time this season when it outshot its opponent (15-14)

NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV plays a second straight home game when it hosts Utah Valley on Sunday at 1 pm at Johann Memorial Field. The game will be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network, available on UNLVRebels.com as well as through the Roku, Apple TV, Fire TV and Android streaming devices.