USAF ACADEMY, Colo. (UNLVRebels.com) — After scoring a season high in goals, the UNLV men's soccer team (6-3-2, 2-1 MW) flew past Air Force, 5-1, for its second straight win Sunday at Cadet Soccer Stadium.
The Rebels jumped to a quick start with four first-half goals behind a brace by sophomore forward
Maxim Scordo with his seventh-minute and 44th-minute scores, junior midfielder
Joaquin Eisenberg's 21st-minute goal and freshman
Marius Gulbrandsen's 39th-minute strike. Their momentum didn't stop there as senior midfielder Kai Merill scored in the 54th minute for a 5-0 UNLV lead before the Falcons finally made it on the board in the 66th minute.
Ending the match with multiple points alongside Scordo (4 points), Gulbrandsen ended the day with three points following an assist paired with his first career goal, senior forward
Nick Legendre racked up two points on two assists and Merrill had two via his second goal of the year. Gulbrandsen and Legendre set up Eisenberg's goal, with Gulbrandsen heading the ball toward the ground to Legendre who slid it into the box for the chip-in by Eisenberg. Legendre later would provide a long throw-in that reached the box for a flick by senior
Manolo Vazquez that made its way to Merrill for the Scarlet & Gray's final score.
In addition to those four Rebels with points, freshman defender
Jacob Miranda assisted with a long-distance pass that paved the way for Scordo's team-leading seventh goal of the season and Vazquez was credited with a point off his assist. Miranda moved alongside Legendre into a tie for the team lead in assists with three apiece.
STAT OF THE GAME: Each team came away with five shots on goal, but the Rebels found the net on each of the targets they put on frame for a perfect. The contest marked the first time the Scarlet & Gray scored five times since the 2017 season in a 5-2 triumph against San José State.
UNLV's goalkeeping tandem of senior
Hugo Lemos and sophomore
Neven Fewster shared duties anchoring the Scarlet & Gray backline, combining for four saves. Lemos made two stops in 83 minutes of work and Fewster reeled in two saves in his seven minutes of relief.
QUOTABLE: "'Today was a good team performance and with the right mentality. Air Force is a very well coached team and the goals fell for us at the right time. We needed to do better keeping the ball, but overall it was a very good day and an important three points on the road."
- UNLV Head Coach BJ Craig
UP NEXT: UNLV will return to competition with a 6 p.m. PT road contest at Utah Tech on Saturday, Oct. 10.
NOTES:
- UNLV extended its goal scoring streak to seven consecutive contests, while improving to 6-1-2 overall in the matches it has scored in this season.
- Scordo and Legendre continue to shine as the Rebels' points leaders, standing first and second in those categories, respectively. After their efforts against the Falcons, Scordo increased his point total to 16 and Legendre upped his count to 11 points.
- This begins the Rebel men's soccer program's first win streak in its inaugural season of Mountain West competition.
