• Thursday, September 5 at #12 Duke | 4 p.m. PT | ACC Network
• Sunday, September 8 vs. #1 North Carolina | 8 a.m. PT | ACC Network

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) - UNLV women's soccer rebounded nicely from its season-opening loss to CSUN, picking up a pair of wins in California last weekend over Cal Baptist and Cal State Bakersfield to move to 2-1 overall. The road momentum will be key as the Rebels will embark on arguably their toughest weekend trip in program history as they face 12th-ranked Duke and the newly minted number one team in the nation North Carolina as part of the Duke Classic in Durham, N.C.

Thursday's game at Duke opens up a three-game stretch against ranked opponents - all on the road - marking the most Power 5 opponents in a single season since 2009 and first-ever consecutive games again ranked teams. After Duke and UNC, UNLV will be in College Station, Texas, to take on No. 13 Texas A&M the following Sunday, September 15.

After a 4-0 start, including a win over Duke, the Tar Heels moved into the top spot in the United Soccer Coaches' rankings this week, making Sunday's showdown with the No. 1 team in the country a first in UNLV program history. The previously highest ranked team the Rebels had faced was No. 3 UCLA in October of 2003, which ended in a narrow 1-0 loss in Las Vegas after the Bruins scored the game winner with under a minute remaining.

While the upcoming task is daunting, head coach Chris Shaw sees it as a positive and beneficial experience for his players and the program.

"This is a huge weekend for the UNLV women's soccer team," said Shaw. "The players are very excited about the challenge ahead and are looking forward to taking the field against some of the best competition in the country. We know that these games will help us grow as a team and we can't wait to see how we stack up against some of the best the ACC has to offer."

After the next two weekends, UNLV will return home to host Northern Arizona and Utah Valley on September 20 and September 22, respectively, before opening Mountain West play at home on Friday, September 27 at 7 p.m. against Utah State.

NEWS & NOTES

• Friday's 2-0 win at Cal Baptist was the Rebels' first win in their road opener in six years under Chris Shaw
• Friday's win over the Lancers saw senior McKenna Sullivan scored the game winner in the 16th minute, her second career goal for the Rebels. Fellow senior Katie Ballou added an insurance goal on a penalty kick in the 26th minute and the Rebels held on for their first shutout and first win of 2019. It was the first ever matchup between the two schools
• Sunday's 2-1 win was a little more dramatic. Trailing 1-0 with under 20 minutes to play, freshman Alysa Caso came in off the bench and evened the score at 1 in the 74th minute on a beauty from 25 yards out - her first career goal as a Rebel. Caso then scored the game winner with 1:23 remaining after picking up the rebound on a corner kick. It was her first significant playing time of the season.
• Rebels remained perfect in the all-time series, moving to 5-0, including wins the last four consecutive years.
• Sophomore keeper Emberly Sevilla tallied 11 saves in the two wins, including five in the second halves of the contests to help UNLV secure the wins.
• UNLV lost a season opener for the first time since 2009, which was also the last time the Rebels were shut out in a season opener.
• UNLV opened the season at home for the seventh time in the last nine years and 14th time since the program's first year in 1998.
• The Rebels were picked to finish tied for fifth with Wyoming in the Mountain West preseason coaches poll.
• Chris Shaw entered his sixth season with a 60-35-8 overall record. On September 9, 2018 he became the winningest coach in program history with his 55th win at UNLV, breaking the old record of 54 set by Dan Abdalla from 2000-04.
• UNLV finished 2018 with an 11-6-3 record and tied for sixth in the MW, just missing the conference tournament for the second straight year.
• In 2016, Shaw led the Rebels to MW regular season and tournament titles for the first time in program history in addition to earning the program's third Coach of the Year honor.
• The Scarlet and Gray welcomed back six full-time starters in 2019. The senior-laden group features four players that have started since their freshman campaigns - defender Paige Almendariz, midfielders Katie Ballou and Georgia Kingman and forward Michaela Morris, who is a fifth-year senior. 2018 Mountain West All-Newcomer selection Taylor Clark is also back along with fellow sophomore Emberly Sevilla, who turned in one of the best seasons by a UNLV keeper as a true freshman in 2018.
• Associate head coach J.J. Wozniak is in his fifth year under Shaw. He was promoted to associate head coach prior to the 2017 season.
• In August, Shaw added Cydney Niedermeyer to his staff as the second assistant. Niedermeyer played collegiately at Southeastern University and finished her career at Temple in 2016.