COLORADO SPRINGS (UNLVRebels.com) – For over 68 minutes, the UNLV men's soccer team went toe-to-toe against reigning WAC champion Air Force Saturday at Cadet Soccer Stadium before dropping its 2021 road finale, 3-1, to the Falcons on two late scores.

The Rebels (6-9, 2-6) stood up to the challenge of facing one of the league's top-2 teams for the second straight game, coming out firing to take a 1-0 lead in the eighth minute when senior Marco Gonzalez sent in his fifth goal of the season from inside the box on a ball that deflected off one of the Falcons' (8-5-1 , 7-1) defenders. It was the second ricochet of the play as Skyler Goo set things in motion for the Scarlet and Gray's attack with a low-rolling pass inside that went through the legs of one Air Force player and took a bounce off another toward Gonzalez.

After Air Force responded quickly with its first goal in the 15th minute from senior Tristan Trager, UNLV kept the game close for the next 54 minutes of play. However, the Falcons broke things open in the 69th minute, scoring two goals within a three-minute span as Trager stole the show by assisting on their game-winning score at that point and then tacking on an insurance goal for the brace at the 71-minute mark.


UNLV will now return to Peter Johann Memorial Field to wrap up the regular season on a three-game homestand, which includes contests Friday vs. Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. and vs. UTRGV at 1 p.m. next Sunday. Tickets can be purchased at UNLVTickets.com.