UNLV's hot start to the season was halted Sunday afternoon as the Rebels were handed a 2-1 loss in overtime on the road at Oral Roberts in men's college soccer action from Case Soccer Complex. The Rebels had begun the year with three straight wins and only one total goal allowed, but gave up a season-high two scores to the Golden Eagles, who evened their record at 2-2.
UNLV notched an early goal, as
Marco Gonzalez scored for the third straight game in the 8th minute for a quick 1-0 lead.
Jesus Partida earned the assist after sending up a long pass from midfielder that Gonzalez took into the box, and eluded several defenders before scoring from close range. ORU responded by pushing the attack on the Rebels, coming up with several notable close shots requiring Rebel goalkeeper
Enrique Adame to make a couple of great saves to keep the hosts off the board.
THE TURNING POINT: UNLV was called for a handball in the box in the 57th minute, awarding a penalty kick to Golden Eagles who converted the try over Adame's diving grasp to knot the game at 1-1. That gave new life to the home team, as they were able to survive a flurry of Rebel offensive chances in the final five minutes to force overtime, before the game-winning goal came on a header off a corner kick in the 96th minute.
REBEL OF THE GAME: Junior goalkeeper
Enrique Adame has one of the better games of his career, as he made big save after big save while also attacking the ball on the ORU attack and stopping several more potential shot opportunities. He would finish the afternoon with five total saves.
STAT OF THE GAME: For the first time this year, UNLV did not outshoot its opponent (12-12), and its opponent had more total shots on goal (7-5).
QUOTABLE:
"Extremely disappointing result today. We were in a position to do some really good things after winning on Friday (at No. 15 Tulsa), but you have to show up and win both weekend games. That's a game we should have won, but they outworked us and outplayed us. An uninspired performance, we now have to be resilient and turn things around for next weekend with our home opener on Friday. It's Alumni weekend, an exciting weekend for us and we'll be playing a pair of quality teams so we hope our fans come out for our first home action of the year."
- UNLV Head Coach
Rich Ryerson
REBEL NOTES:
* Gonzalez has 11 points for the season (five goals, one assist) through four games, after posting 18 total points his freshman season.
* The Rebels have played all four of their games this year away from Las Vegas.
NEXT FOR THE REBELS: UNLV comes back to Las Vegas for its home opener this Friday against Wofford at 7 pm. It's both Alumni Weekend and the Johann Memorial Classic at UNLV this weekend, as the annual Alumni game will kick off at 5 pm. Sunday, Sept. 9 will be the second day of the Classic, with Cal Baptist and Wofford first playing at 4:30 pm before the Rebels host Cal State Fullerton in a 7 pm contest.
Friday's game against Wofford has also been designated a Code Red game by the UNLV athletic department, and all fans are asked to wear red to the game while the first 300 will receive a free UNLV red T-shirt. The Rebel Mafia Tailgate Party, sponsored by the UNLV Soccer Foundation, returns for another year of UNLV home games and will be open from 5-6:45 pm with free food, drinks and music. Admission is free to all ticketed fans. Sunday's game will also have a tailgate prior to the game, with that night's food provided by Raising Canes as the first 250 fans into receive a free Three Finger Combo.
