Rebels see positive omen

Tuesday, May 9, 2006 | 7:34 a.m.

New UNLV men's soccer coach Mario Sanchez has received a surprise message, which reinforced the idea that he's already beginning to steer the Rebels in the proper direction.

After one of UNLV's 10 exhibition games this spring, a player whom Sanchez is recruiting from a local club team told the coach in an e-mail that he and his teammates believed they would defeat the Rebels.

UNLV won that game decisively.

Sanchez shared that note with his players during fitness tests.

"Some of the local club teams have seen what we've done and the improvement in the program," Sanchez said. "I want my players to feel good about it. It reiterates what we're trying to do."

UNLV did not lose an exhibition match, going 8-0-2.

"First and foremost, my No. 1 goal was to bring confidence back to the program," Sanchez said. "By going undefeated, we definitely did that."

The program has had only two winning seasons in the past 13 years, and it has not qualified for the NCAA tournament since 1988.

"We were also able to set up a structure within the program, with a style of play and system," Sanchez said. "And I told the guys, kind of blindly, that we were going to go undefeated this spring and be a winning program. We did that.

"I couldn't have been happier."

Sanchez said midfielder Lamar Neagle, with his passion and precision, is a perfect fit for his system and should be a hot Major League Soccer prospect after he graduates from UNLV.

That's provided Neagle, who begins his sophomore year this fall, doesn't exhibit too much emotion, which Sanchez told him in a one-on-one meeting.

"We have to keep him right on that line," Sanchez said. "We don't want him to teeter over (it) and lose his ability, but he's a wonderful player. He's athletic and has a good touch on the ball with either foot."

Sanchez's 4-4-2 system will rely on a stout flat-back four defense that requires discipline.

In past seasons, under former coach Barry Barto, marking individual players created trouble for the Rebels' defenders.

"It's the basics," Neagle said. "The flat-back four makes it so that we don't have to depend on one man to mark their guy. They work together. It's easier for the outside midfielders, too, so they don't have to come back."

Neagle of Federal Way, Wash., had a brief feeler from Seattle University, then wound up at UNLV when defender Brandon Sprague recommended him to Barto. Sprague of Auburn, Wash., will be a sophomore next season.

"This was it, my only option," Neagle said.

Corner kicks

Charlie Kellogg was a longtime supporter and coach of the sport. Joe Zaher, who played at Bishop Gorman High School, had just finished a superb first season at Oregon State when he was killed in an auto accident in 2002.

Nearly all of the 15 pairs are gone. Kids are getting them, regardless of size, to take to Los Angeles in August when FC Barcelona visits in hopes of getting Ronaldinho himself to sign them. They go for $129.99 ... but you get two!