UNLV soccer to open season

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2000 | 10:09 a.m.

UNLV's men's soccer team will kick off its season this weekend with a pair of exhibition matches at home while the women's team, under new head coach Dan Abdalla, will open with a pair of road matches.

The Rebels' men's team, which returns seven starters from last year's squad, will host Master's College at 7 p.m. Saturday at Johann Field and will entertain Grand Canyon College at 2 p.m. Sunday.

Head coach Barry Barto begins his 19th season at the helm of the Rebels' men's team, which will be led this season by junior Jason Melendez, who led the team in scoring (20), goals (8) and assists (4) as a sophomore.

The Rebels are coming off a sub-par season in which they were 7-11 overall and 2-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

UNLV will open the regular season on Friday, Sept. 1, against Ohio State at Johann Field.

The UNLV women's team opens its season on Friday at Cal State Fullerton and will travel to Loyola Marymount on Sunday.

The Rebels return eight starters from last year's squad, which posted a 7-11-1 overall record and was 1-6 in the Mountain West Conference.

Leading the Rebels this season will be junior forwards Janae Sims and Anita Pedford, who led the team in just about every offensive category last season.

Pedford, an All-Mountain West Conference first-team selection, scored four goals, four assists and 12 points a year ago while Sims had seven goals, two assists and 16 points.