LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - A pair of UNLV women's soccer signees for the 2019 class will get an early start to their Rebel careers, announced head coach Chris Shaw Tuesday. The two Las Vegas natives - Marcella Brooks and Lourdes Bosch - will both graduate high school a semester early and enroll at UNLV in January in time to participate in spring ball. Brooks and Bosch complete Shaw's 2019 class, which includes the six signees announced last week that will arrive in the fall.

"We are very excited about Lourdes and Marcella joining our team this spring," said Shaw. "They are both special players and I think getting them acclimated to the college environment a semester early will benefit both the players and our team."


Brooks was a four-year letterman and three-year starter at forward at Centennial High School under head coach Kristina Kasten. In her three years as a starter up front, Brooks helped the Bulldogs to a 36-19-6 record, which included leading the team in scoring each of those seasons. Over her high school career, Brooks tallied 79 goals to go along with 34 assists, setting records at Centennial for scoring in a game (6), season (28, 2018) and career (79). As a junior in 2017, Brooks was an All-State First Team selection and earned All-Southern Nevada and all-region honors. Her record-setting senior year in 2018 garnered even more accolades as she was named to the 2018 United Soccer Coaches Fall Girls High School All-West Region team; was the Mountain Region Offensive Player of the Year; and was an All-Southern Nevada and all-region team selection for the second straight year. Brooks, who has Type 1 Diabetes, was also honored with the 2017-18 Nevada Preps "No Limits" award, which is given annually to prep players who overcome physical adversity to excel in their sport. The Las Vegas native also played club ball for Las Vegas Premier Soccer Club from 2015-17 and the Heat FC since 2017. Brooks plans on majoring in Kinesiology at UNLV. 


Bosch, who attended both the West Career and Technical Academy and Spring Valley High School, played club ball exclusively during her prep career. Like Brooks, Bosch was a member of the Las Vegas Premier Soccer Club from 2016-17 then switched to the Heat FC for the 2018 season. In 2016, the midfielder helped her club team reach the Nevada State Cup and a quarterfinals appearance in the regional tournament. Bosch also reached the State Cup in 2017, winning a championship with the Premier FC, then returned to the finals with the Heat FC in 2018, where she captured the championship for the second straight season. Bosch is undecided on her major at UNLV. 

Brooks and Bosch's early addition will be especially beneficial for the Rebels as they look to replace the loss of their top two goals scorers (Kaila Brinkman and Cailtyn Kreutz) and assists leader (Amanda Galbraith), who were seniors in 2018.

UNLV will release its spring schedule in January.