RENO, NV (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV women's soccer team's season ends in heartbreak as the Rebels came up just short of in their quest to make the Mountain West Tournament for the first time since 2016. UNLV fell 1-0 to rival UNR in the Silver State Series showdown Thursday night in Reno after the Wolf Pack scored with under five minutes remaining in regulation to dash the Rebels' postseason hopes. 

Each team took turns dominating the evenly played match with the UNR keeper and Rebel redshirt freshman keeper Riley Liebsack each coming up with key saves to keep the other squad off the board. The game looked like it was headed for overtime until a Wolf Pack cross found the foot of a UNR forward, who put it in behind Liebsack in the bottom left corner. With such little time on the clock, the Rebels ran out of time to find the equalizer.

The Scarlet and Gray had entered the matchup holding the sixth spot in the league standings, needing a tie or a win to clinch the berth in next week's conference tournament in Boise. UNR, who had already been eliminated from contention, played spoiler and handed the Rebels just their second loss in their last six games. UNLV has now lost its last two matches against UNR, both in Reno. While San Jose State, who sat one point behind UNLV coming into Thursday's games, lost to Fresno State in the season finale, it was Boise State who ultimately knocked out UNLV. The Broncos won their final regular season game over Utah State to finish with 15 points and tied with the Rebels, but Boise State held the head-to-head tiebreaker by way of a 2-0 win to open conference play.

The Rebels finish the season at 12-8 overall and 5-6 in league play, having won four of their last six games after a 1-4 start in the Mountain West. During conference play, UNLV out-shot its opponent in eight of the 11 games, including 8-6 over the Wolf Pack Thursday, while three of its six league losses came on golden goals in overtime. 

Despite missing out on the postseason, it was an impressive second season, and first complete season, for second year head coach Jenny Ruiz-Williams. The Rebels went 7-2 during non-conference play and after facing some adversity to start the conference slate, they bounced back strong and were playing their best soccer at the end of the season. Two of the final four wins came over the first and second place teams in New Mexico and Fresno State, while UNLV shut out its opponent in three of its final five games.