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No. 3 seed UNLV Advances to Championship Game Over No. 2 BYU
Rebels advance to title game on penalty kicks, 4-1
Nov. 2, 2006 For updated coverage visit the MWC Women's Soccer Championship Page. SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - No. 2 seed BYU and No. 3 seed UNLV played 110 minutes of scoreless soccer Thursday night, Nov. 2, in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Soccer Tournament. In the end it was the Rebels who advanced to the championship game by a 4-1 margin in penalty kicks.
"You have to hand it to BYU, they are a dangerous team," said UNLV Head Coach Kat Mertz. "But, I think we were a cohesive unit from front to back and played really well. I was very confident with (Alicia) Lugo in the goal. She's agile and quick and reads the shooters well."
Freshman goalkeeper Alicia Lugo came up big in goal for UNLV. Making her first start since mid-September, Lugo stopped all four shots she faced during regulation. She also stopped two of BYU's penalty kicks to help the Rebels advance to the title game.
UNLV's Katie Carney put the ball in the goal on the first penalty kick. Lugo then stoned BYU's Andrea Willis, but it was ruled that Lugo wasn't stationary when Willis made her kick, giving Willis a second attempt. Lugo calmly knocked Willis' second shot down , giving the Rebels a 1-0 advantage. UNLV's Brie Kuhne then scored over Cougar keeper Erika Woodbury. Lugo got a piece of Brooke Bowman's second shot, which went off the crossbar and the Rebels led 2-0 in the five-shot shootout. Both UNLV's Shannon Hughes and BYU's Katie Larkin scored in the third round of penalty kicks to make it, 3-1 in favor of UNLV.
Rebels team captain Tanya Roberts was the fourth UNLV player to enter the shootout. She put the ball past Woodbury's outstretched right hand, putting the Rebels into the championship game.
BYU dominated much of the action during regulation play, out-shooting UNLV 21-12. But the Rebels' defense withstood the test. In the two overtime periods, UNLV controlled much of the action. The Rebels had the best scoring chance of either overtime period when Roberts' header in the 98th minute hit the crossbar and fell in front of the goal. BYU's Woodbury had to dive on it before UNLV could take advantage of the rebound.
"We took pride in the way we played today," noted BYU Head Coach Jennifer Rockwood. "We're going to go back and prepare for next week, hoping there is a next week."
UNLV will play the winner of No. 1 Utah and No. 4 New Mexico at Noon on Saturday, Nov. 4.
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