FRESNO, CA (UNLVRebels.com) - The UNLV women's soccer team (1-1-1) mounted a late comeback in its road opener at Fresno State Friday, but the rally came up just short in the 3-2 loss to the Bulldogs. The loss was the first for UNLV this year, while the Rebels' streak of 200-plus minutes of shutout ball came to an end.
Trailing 3-1 with under 10 minutes to play, UNLV continued to fight and put pressure on the Fresno State defense. That pressure paid off in the 82nd minute when the Rebels forced a corner kick taken by freshman Nailah Harpring. Harping sent a perfectly placed ball into the middle of the box and sophomore Marcella Brooks timed her jump perfectly to head the ball past the Bulldog keeper for the score, cutting the lead to 3-2.
With under two minutes to play, the Rebels continued to push the ball into FS territory and senior Samantha Bailley found herself with the ball and a clear shot on goal. Bailley launched the ball and it started to drift to the upper left corner of the goal, looking like it would get past the keeper and tie it up at three, but Fresno State's Briana O'Dell jumped to her right and collected the save to secure the win.
It was quite the afternoon for the freshman Harpring, who scored her first career goal in the 22nd minute, then collected the assist on the Brooks goal.
For the game, UNLV out-shot Fresno State 9-5 with Harpring and Brooks accounting for three apiece.
UP NEXT:Â UNLV will finish out the weekend Sunday with a 12 p.m. match at San Jose State.
