Rebels Battle Lopes To 2-2 Draw On Senior Night - University of Nevada Las Vegas Athletics

Friday, October 23

Las Vegas, NV

7:00 PM PT

University of Nevada Las Vegas

8-4-3, 4-2-1

Grand Canyon

9-5-1, 6-0-1

Team	1	2	Final F
Grand Canyon	0	2	2
UNLV	1	1	2

10/24/2026 12:29:00 AM | Men's Soccer

Box Score

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) — In a back-and-forth contest down to the final minutes between the Mountain West's points leaders, the UNLV men's soccer team (8-4-3, 4-2-1 MW) battled Grand Canyon (9-5-1, 6-0-1 MW) to a 2-2 draw Friday on Senior Night at Peter Johann Memorial Field.

The Rebels took leads late in each half as senior forward Nick Legendre rocketed in the opening goal in the 44th-minute via penalty kick and senior captain Manolo Vazquez headed in an 82nd minute score for a 2-1 lead. After the Scarlet & Gray kept the visitor out of the net in the first half, the Lopes broke through for an equalizer on a goal from roughly 23 yards out in the 58th minute and evened things for good with their own penalty-kick goal in the 88th minute.

On a night when the Scarlet & Gray won the corner kick competition, 5-2, senior Kai Merrill played one of those attempts to Andres Robles who then turned it back to him for the double assist on Vazquez's score. Legendre's goal followed the foul he drew in the box when he was knocked down by a Grand Canyon defender while taking the ball into the 18.

STAT OF THE GAME: UNLV handed GCU its first two deficits during MW play, holding its leads for a combined 19 minutes in the match, and scored the most goals allowed by the Lopes in a league match this season. This also marked the first time the Lopes were tied with an opponent since the Rebels tied things in the first meeting between the squads this season.

On the defensive end, the Rebel backline and senior goalkeeper Hugo Lemos helped keep their side in position for the point, teaming up for four saves. Lemos finished with three saves, including a key stop from the ground on a dangerous loose ball shot attempt near the post in the 89th minute. Additionally, freshman Thomas Gulbrandsen gave the squad a team save as he took possession of a threatening target by the Lopes at the goal line in the 53rd minute after a deflected Lemos save.

QUOTABLE: "I thought it was a great match tonight. I think it was a great representation of what Mountain West soccer looks like and it played like a final tonight. You had two of the best teams going head to head, and I was really proud of the way our players played. I thought they played a really good match and at the end of the day we've got to keep moving forward."
-UNLV Head Coach BJ Craig

UP NEXT: The Rebels will play their final road match of the MW schedule at UC Davis on Wednesday, Oct. 28, with a 6 p.m. kickoff.

NOTES:

UNLV's attack continued its goal scoring streak, finding the net for the 11th consecutive contest.
This was the fourth time the Rebels have scored two or more goals in Mountain West competition during the 2026 campaign.
As part of Senior Night, the Rebels honored nine seniors before the contest, including Lemos, Vazquez, Robles, Merrill, Legendre, Bryce Allred, Mikah Madrid, Claudio Lopez Alós and Farhan Moustafa.