Little sister follows in footsteps of her biggest fan

Thursday, Oct. 19, 2006 | 7:35 a.m.

Hometown: Parker, Colo.

Age: 20

Position: Midfielder

Family: Her parents, Emma and Bob, were athletes when they met at the University of Toledo; older brother, Robert, played soccer at the University of Denver.

Resume: Started one of 16 games at Florida State in 2004 had one goal for UNLV last season as a sophomore and currently leads the team with five.

Future: She's studying communications and hopes to work in sports broadcasting .

Where: Peter Johann Memorial Field

When: 1 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: $7, $5 for students and seniors; unlvtickets.com

Robert Rice picked a fine time to visit Las Vegas and watch his little sister, Armani, play a couple of games for the UNLV women's soccer team at Peter Johann Memorial Field.

It wasn't a mere coincidence that she pounded in an overtime goal to beat New Mexico on Friday night and then rifled in the game winner in the 89th minute Sunday afternoon to defeat Texas Christian.

Armani wears No. 22, just like her brother did on the University of Denver's soccer team.

"He's the one who got me into it," she said. "I'm following in his footsteps a little bit."

Robert, who works in marketing for Nordstrom's in Denver, had been prepping her all week, zipping her text messages like "Go For The Goal" and "Make Up Your Mind You Want It."

After Sunday's game he said he returned to Denver and bragged about Armani all week. "She was always at my games, cheering for me. So it's nice to come out and return the favor, in a sense, and watch her excel now. The whole weekend was enjoyable."

Armani Rice's dramatic goals gave her a team-high five for the season, boosting the Rebels to 7-8-1 (2-2 in the Mountain West Conference) before Friday night's match at Air Force. UNLV hosts Wyoming on Sunday to cap its home schedule.

When Robert, 25, visits Armani, 20, he even brings his cleats to try to show little sister a thing or two.

"They're always in the suitcase, just in case," he said. "You never know. She's still young. She has some things to learn."

She doesn't back down.

"He's older and out of shape," she said smiling, "but he'll get out here and kick it around."

Armani Rice was second-year UNLV coach Kat Mertz's first recruit. She first went to Florida State, which had just played in soccer's Final Four. Then coach Patrick Baker left for Georgia, and Rice decided to bolt from Tallahassee after only one season.

She talked with Mertz, then an assistant at UCLA.

Mertz mentioned how she was leaving to take over the Rebels' program. During Mertz's first week in Las Vegas, Rice made an official visit. They rode rides atop the Stratosphere. Together, both made their first tours of the UNLV campus.

"We were walking around saying, 'Look at that building,' " Mertz said. "I love the fact that she believes in me, she took a risk on me. She knows what level I want and where I want to go. That feels good."

Rice regrets nothing about the move.

"She single-handedly sold me on coming to UNLV," Rice said of Mertz. "No regrets at all. I love it. I love Las Vegas and I love this team."

Rice was weaned on the game in the Colorado Rush club system, and Mertz also knew Rice's experiences in the Atlantic Coast Conference would benefit the Rebels.

The 5-foot-8 midfielder is known for her pace and precise left foot, so the physical aspects of her game required little attention. Mertz needed to work on the mental approach.

Rice often let the immediate past dictate the future. Mertz issued a challenge, to get Rice to think of each half of the game in 15-minute thirds.

That paid off Sunday, when the Horned Frogs responded to the first goal of the game by UNLV with one of their own just 14 seconds later.

Instead of letting dejection lead to disaster, Rice - and the Rebels - rebounded. In the last minutes of regulation, their fatigue made the prospect of overtime unattractive. Then Rice quashed that thought, striking her 15-yard decider from the left side in the 89th minute.

"It's about knowing we could win the game and digging deep," Rice said. "Kat has worked hard with me on being focused by taking (each half) in three sections."

Mertz knew confidence would turn Rice into a prolific scorer.

"We need her to take over games, because she can," Mertz said. "She has the ability to beat people with her pure speed. She serves great balls into the box, but it's nice to see her finish."

Robert Rice agreed, sibling sporting rivalry aside.

"Her biggest thing is to stay focused for the whole 90 minutes, to not fade in or out," he said. "Once she gets it with one touch, she's dangerous. She's getting more confident, especially after this weekend."