Rebels shock No. 18 Gonzaga with late goal

Monday, Sept. 20, 1999 | 9:54 a.m.

Whether it was a humbling 1-0 loss on Friday to Maryland-Baltimore County or the prospect of facing the 18th-ranked team in the nation, the UNLV men's soccer team played perhaps its most spirited match of the season Sunday at Johann Field.

Matt Thompson's shot from 20 yards out went through the Gonzaga goalkeeper's hands with 41 seconds remaining in regulation and lifted the Rebels to a dramatic 4-3 victory over the Bulldogs.

Gonzaga had tied the score at 3-3 in the 79th minute and it took UNLV more than 10 minutes to mount a serious shot on goal. With the prospect of overtime looming, Thompson took a pass from Paul Dickinson and took aim on the goal.

Gonzaga goalkeeper Chad Beadel appeared to have a bead on Thompson's shot, but the ball went through his arms and dribbled between his legs for the winner.

"All I was thinking was to put it on goal," Thompson said. "The game Friday just woke us up (and) we picked up the intensity a lot today."

Thompson's goal capped a physical match that saw the two teams combine for 31 fouls. At one point late in the first half, UNLV defender Brent Storrs was checked over a waist-high chain-link fence at the east end of the pitch by Gonzaga's Justin Franson.

Storrs was unhurt, but tempers were short on both teams for the remainder of the game.

"I think both teams realized that it was an important game and they're going to work real hard to battle for the win," UNLV head coach Barry Barto said.

"It was a good win and a very important win for us. It's a regional game, (Gonzaga is) a very good team and for us to be 3-4 or 2-5, there's a big difference. This will hopefully be an uplifting game for us from a mental standpoint, that we can play with some really good teams."

In addition to creating more scoring opportunities, the Rebels (3-4) took advantage of those chances -- something they haven't done with frequency this season.

UNLV took a 1-0 lead when freshman Reggie Bolden scored on a perfectly executed bicycle kick in the 29th minute.

Within three minutes, Gonzaga (3-3-1) tied the score, but UNLV answered right back on Tuomas Talvio's unassisted goal just 1:02 later and took a 2-1 lead into the intermission.

In the second half, Gonzaga evened the score with a goal in the 58th minute, but B.J. McNicol gave the Rebels a 3-2 lead just 53 seconds later when he scored an unassisted goal off a free kick.

Gonzaga outshot the Rebels, 18-10, but UNLV manufactured more scoring opportunities than it had in the past six games.

"We told them that we needed to score goals so we changed some things today to get more pressure and to get forward more," Barto said. "We changed some things tactically to try to get more chances and we were able to do that."

Barto also was pleased with his team's ability to answer quickly following the Bulldogs' first two goals.

"That was really very, very important," Barto said. "When you give away a goal and then come back and get one right away, that puts the other team on the field ... they have a tendency to let down."