UC Irvine knocks out UNLV soccer

IRVINE, Calif. — UNLV, one of the nation’s most potent offenses in college soccer, failed to score when it mattered most Thursday night.

UC Irvine used two goals from Cameron Iwasa to eliminate the Rebels 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA men’s soccer tournament at the campus stadium.

UNLV, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1988, entered the game with 44 goals, the second most in Division I. But the Anteaters (15-5-3) held the Rebels (14-5-3) to five shots in the first half and 12 overall.

“They play at a high level,” UNLV goalkeeper Ryan Harding said. “They’re an experienced team with a lot of Southern California kids coming from good club teams, and they play a lot of good teams all year round.”

Salvador Bernal, the Rebels’ leading scorer and the Western Athletic Conference’s offensive player of the year, made his first appearance since Oct. 26. But Bernal, who has a strained medial collateral ligament in his right knee, played just 25 minutes and took only one shot.

“It’s tough to come back after 3½ weeks and not be at the same level as the other guys,” Bernal said. “That really affected me a lot.”

UNLV midfielder Rodrigo Fuentes, who scored five goals this season, missed the game after undergoing surgery Monday to repair a broken right foot. With Fuentes out and Bernal hobbled, the Anteaters dominated the midfield in defeating the Rebels for the second time this season, following a 4-2 road victory on Sept. 26.

“The patterns they have in attack are well-timed,” UNLV coach Rich Ryerson said. “Just tracking their runners off the ball is very difficult. They get in behind you pretty well. “

Iwasa scored his first goal in the seventh minute on a 16-yard shot. Then in the 36th minute, Mats Bjurman’s pass freed Iwasa for a breakaway that ended with a 12-yard shot inside the right post.

“Man, he’s so strong,” Ryerson said. “He got two great goals.”

Dennis Martinez ended the scoring in the 76th minute with a 3-yard header off Gor Kirakovyan’s corner kick. Goalkeeper Michael Breslin made four saves for his ninth shutout of the season.

Irvine will play Stanford, ranked second in the final men’s soccer poll, on Sunday.