LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – The UNLV women's soccer team (3-4-2, 1-0 MW) outlasted UTEP (6-1-3, 0-1 MW) in Thursday night's Mountain West opener at Peter Johann Memorial Field for head coach Kacey Bingham's first MW victory.
In their UFC Fight Night-themed match, the Rebels struck first in the second half with junior captain
Macee McKenna's 51st-minute goal and again with freshman
Kamri Yergensen's 69th-minute finish. The Miners fought back, hitting the back of the net in the 77th minute, but Yergensen's goal provided the cushion needed for the Scarlet & Gray to hand UTEP its first defeat of the season.
McKenna's score, which marked her first as a Rebel, came from the right post on the corner-kick assist by sophomore midfielder
Tori Martinez who had her second straight match with a point. Similar to Martinez, sophomore forward
Julia Salem and Yergensen both finished with their second consecutive match with at least a point, with the former being credited on an assist for her shot that deflected off UTEP's goalkeeper and set up the former's tap-in goal.
STAT OF THE GAME: In spite of facing a flurry of 11 second-half Miner shots and a disadvantage in total shots, 16-13, UNLV's attack offered the more damaging looks to win the shots-on-goal battle, 6-4. With the 13 targets, the Rebel attack posted double-digit shot attempts for the fourth consecutive contest, helping them extend their current unbeaten streak to three matches overall.
Anchoring a tough wall of defending by the Rebel backline, sophomore goalkeeper
Riley Hodson earned her third win in net. She made three saves in 90 minutes, while combining with her defensive unit to avoid damage in net on 15 of the season-high-tying 16 total shots.
QUOTABLE: "I'm excited for our girls to have that moment to get their first win in conference play. We knew this was going to be a big game, like every conference game is, especially with UTEP who was undefeated and has allowed very few goals this year. For us to come and score to against them is huge. We know every game's going to be a battle but we're always going to celebrate these moments because you never know when you're going to get them, so we're going to celebrate this."
-UNLV Head Coach Kacey Bingham
UP NEXT: The Scarlet & Gray will head to Bingham's hometown of Phoenix for their first Mountain West road match at Grand Canyon on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.
NOTES:
- With Bingham's first Mountain West victory, the Rebels improved to 4-1-3 all-time in their head coaches' conference debuts. That includes an unbeaten 2-0-2 in the last four coach debuts against a conference opponent.
- The Scarlet & Gray has now netted multiple goals in a game four times this season, improving to an unbeaten 2-0-2 in those contests.
- Out of the Rebels nine matches during the 2026 campaign, eight of them have been decided by one goal or less.
- Salem continues to sit second on the Scarlet & Gray points chart for the season with six points after her credited assist. She and Martinez both moved into a tie for the team lead in assists (2).
- Martinez continues to make an immediate impact with points in each of her two outings since returning from an injury that kept her away from game action since 2024. UNLV is now 2-0-0 when Martinez steps on the pitch.
- In the shots-on-goal department, Yergensen paced all Rebels with two shots on target for the night, followed by one apiece from Salem, McKenna, fifth-year forward Kaitlin Taylor and freshman midfielder Emma Flannery.
