It’s done. After 27 years, hundreds of games and countless moments of frustration and defeat, the UNLV men’s soccer team can once again call themselves conference champions. With their 2-1 victory over Grand Canyon on Sunday, the Rebels capped off one of the more improbable season’s in the programs history, finishing with a 13-4-2 record overall and 7-2-1 in the Western Athletic Conference. “It’s an amazing feeling watching our players celebrate winning the WAC title today,” said head coach Rich Ryerson.” The seven wins tie a conference-play record for UNLV, while the 13-wins are the most for the program since 1987 (14). That mark is also good for sixth-best all-time. To put in perspective how improbable this conference title is, this was a program that was almost cut from the athletic department just five seasons ago. “They have worked so hard, not only today but the previous four years, to rebuild a program that was left for dead. In just a short amount of time, with discipline and hard work, they have turned it around completely,” Ryerson said. The way in which the Rebels won is possibly just as impressive. In a season in which captain Salvador Bernal and freshman Danny Musovski led the scoring charge, it was two not often heard names that sealed UNLV’s fate. Kyle Mellies, known for his defensive prowess on the Rebels’ stout backline, scored in the 43rd-minute to put UNLV up 1-0. After a yellow card in the 61st-minute on the Antelopes, Jason Khamvongsa sent a blast past the keeper to make it 2-0. Bernal, like the Rebels’ last two games, did not play against GCU, resting a sore ankle. He’s expected to be ready for the conference tournament. On the defensive side, it was business as usual for the Rebels. They held GCU to just three shots on goal for the entire game, allowing the only goal in the 90th-minute after a UNLV yellow card. The Rebels got back to dominating like they did at the beginning of the season, out-shooting the Antelopes 16-8, including a 6-3 edge in shots on goal. With the win, UNLV clinches the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in next weekend’s WAC tournament held in Seattle. The Rebels will await the winner of No. 4 UMKC and No. 5 San Jose State. The match will not be easy, as UMKC defeated UNLV 2-1 back on Oct. 19. The Rebels also tied with San Jose State 0-0 in double-overtime on Nov. 2. The match is scheduled to take play Friday at 4:30 PM PT. Whatever the outcome may be Friday, UNLV has had a remarkable season. They’ve taken a program that was slowly burning down, and it rose from the ashes. Seems fitting they clinched the conference title in Phoenix.
↧