Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Rebels Soccer:

UNLV soccer’s NCAA Tournament starts with rematch at UC Irvine

UNLV men's soccer

Eric Toliver

Members of UNLV’s men’s soccer team react to seeing their placement in the 2014 NCAA Tournament during a watch party at the Mendenhall Center on Monday, Nov. 17. It’s the Rebels’ first trip to the tournament since 1988.

UNLV Soccer Practice

UNLV soccer player Julien Dragomir warms up during practice at UNLV Thursday, Sept. 18, 2014. Launch slideshow »

When Rich Ryerson took over UNLV’s soccer program in 2010, the definition of success was different than most schools.

“We just wanted to keep the program,” Ryerson said. “That was the original goal.”

Ryerson did that, raising money and convincing the powers that be that men’s soccer was worth keeping at UNLV. Now success is a different thing entirely, as the Rebels earned their first berth in the NCAA Tournament since 1988. On Sunday, the Rebels won the WAC tournament championship in a shootout against Bakersfield, and today they learned they will travel to UC Irvine on Thursday for the opening round of the 48-team NCAA Tournament.

The team gathered at the Mendenhall Center with a couple dozen supporters for the selection show. UNLV has played UC Irvine twice recently, winning 3-1 on the road in the spring and then losing 4-2 at home on Sept. 26.

After a breakthrough regular season, UNLV (14-4-3) won the conference tournament without two of its regular starters. Rodrigo Fuentes, the team’s third-leading scorer, broke a bone in his foot in the regular-season finale and leading scorer Salvador Bernal was held out with a knee injury, although he’s expected to return for Thursday’s game.

“We haven’t had to rely on just one player,” Ryerson said. “Other guys have stepped up and done a great job.”

If the Rebels win, they would travel to No. 6 seed Stanford on Sunday. Getting there requires beating the team that Ryerson called the best opponent UNLV has had all season, but the Rebels have some experience getting revenge. Bakersfield had come to Las Vegas and won on Halloween, but the short-handed Rebels were able to beat them when it counted.

“It’s kind of a redemption series right now,” said Danny Musovski, a freshman from Liberty High and the WAC tournament MVP.

As a player at UNLV, Ryerson went to three NCAA Tournaments from 1983 to 1986. None of the current Rebels were even born the last time the team made the field, an accomplishment that isn’t lost on a roster that was aware of how close they were to shutting down.

“It’s cool to look back on it and say we’re going to the NCAA Tournament,” Musovski said.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.

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