UNLV soccer coach pleased with Rebels' showing in tournament

Most coaches insist there is no such thing as a moral victory, but UNLV men's head soccer coach Barry Barto would disagree.

Barto was anything but discouraged Sunday after the Rebels dropped a 2-1 decision to 16th-ranked Washington in the final round of the UNLV Snickers/Fila Rebel Classic at Johann Field.

"We actually did some good things today," Barto said. "It was probably the best soccer we have played this year, it really was. We knew that we were going to have to play well against this team from a tactical standpoint.

"I'm much happier with the way we played today, even though we didn't get the (win), than I was with Friday's play. We got the win on Friday but I wasn't really happy with our play."

The Rebels (2-3) suffered several defensive breakdowns in the first half and fell behind 2-0 on a pair of goals by the Huskies' Dayo Oyetuga, but regrouped and held Washington (3-1-1) scoreless in the second half.

"We made some mistakes defensively (in the first half) and it put us in a hole," Barto said. "But the kids came back. We asked them to continue doing what they were doing, just to tighten up defensively, and we made some adjustments."

The only opportunity that materialized for the Rebels came in the 63rd minute when Brent Storrs found the goal with a header on an assist from Matt Thompson.

Washington took a 1-0 lead just 4:39 into the match when Oyetuga fired on Rebels goalkeeper Ryan Bledsoe from point-blank range following a crossing pass by Zac Tallman.

Oyetuga made it 2-0 on a header in the 24th minute.

"It's tough to come back from two goals," Barto said. "We were thinking (when the score was) 2-0, if we could just get one goal, it would be a much different game for them -- and it was.

"This really was the best soccer we have played to this point and that's always promising to see your players playing well. It's a good thing to work off of for next weekend."

UNLV's performance in the second half gave Barto reason to be optimistic heading into this weekend's Coors Soccer Classic at Johann Field.

"We played real good against a very, very good team," Barto said. "I really think this will be a better team than we were last year, and that's what we've been striving for from the start of the fall, is to get better every game."

Seventh-ranked Southern Methodist (3-0) captured the title of the UNLV Snickers/Fila Rebel Classic with a resounding 9-0 victory over Detroit in Sunday's other tournament game.

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