Recruiting a priority in LV soccer exhibitions

Friday, March 26, 2004 | 9:49 a.m.

At first glance, it would appear that two soccer exhibition games featuring the women's national team from Mexico is UNLV's way of reaching out to Las Vegas' abundant and growing Spanish-speaking community.

And while that's true, the Rebels' soccer coaches admit that reaching out to the Mexican national team for prospective players might be the ultimate benefit to treating the visitors from south of the border to some American hospitality.

The Mexican women defeated Brigham Young, a quarterfinalist at last year's NCAA tournament, 2-1 Thursday night in front of a crowd of 1,032 at Peter Johann Memorial Field and will go against the UNLV women's team at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

"For our program, this is a huge recruiting opportunity, from the standpoint that a lot of the Mexico national team players are from the States with parents of Mexican descent," said Todd Abdalla, who assists his brother Dan with the UNLV coaching duties.

"Some of the kids we are looking at will be coming to Las Vegas (with the Mexican team). They'll have a chance to see our facilities, see Las Vegas, and that's the main thing from a recruiting angle."

The Rebels already have an in with the Mexican squad as Jenny Ruiz, an all-Mountain West Conference defender for UNLV, is now training with Mexico. Ruiz grew up in Corona, Calif., after her parents moved there from Mexico.

Abdalla said Ruiz, who has an ankle injury, is expected to play Saturday against -- and maybe even for -- UNLV.

"We're talking to Leo (Cuellar, the former Mexican men's star who coaches the women) about her playing half and half," Abdalla. "We could definitely use her and I'm sure Mexico's in the same boat."

It's pretty much the same story with Jessica Torres, a standout at Las Vegas' Chaparral High School. Torres also has trained with the Mexico under-19s and will be auditioning for a spot on the Olympic squad in this weekend's exhibitions.

Mexico qualified for the Athens games with a 2-1 upset of Canada earlier this month. Star players such as Monica and Maribel Dominguez, both of whom play professionally in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), were expected to accompany the team to Las Vegas, although the exhibition games will provide Cuellar with an excellent opportunity to scout many of the U-19 players under game conditions.

"Their national team qualified for the Olympics, which was kind of a shocker," Abdalla said of Mexico's standing on the international women's scene, where the United States is among the dominant forces.

Maribel Dominguez scored both goals in the victory against the favored Canadians as Mexico joined the USA, Greece, Brazil, Australia, Germany and Sweden in qualifying for the Olympics.

"It has been a long process," Cuellar said about the Mexican women's struggle for national support in a country where men's soccer is king. "In the past, nothing really happened or was organized with the national team. So what we earned (by qualifying for the Olympics) was another four years of support.

"We live in a culture where you have to win to get support, and these beautiful women have earned that support."

Tickets are $15 for Saturday's game and can be purchased in advance at Soccer World, Soccer Field, The Jock Shop and SportCo.