Air Force Downs UNLV, 3-1

USAF ACADEMY – Air Force rallied from an early deficit to beat UNLV, 3-1, in Western Athletic Conference action, Sunday afternoon, at Cadet Soccer Stadium. The Falcons, who secured a WAC playoff berth in the win, improve to 8-5-1 overall with a 7-1 mark in the league. The Rebels drop to 6-9 overall with a 2-6 record in the WAC.

UNLV put the Falcons on their heels early with a strike from Marco Gonzalez in the 8^th minute. Air Force, undeterred by the early deficit, rose to the occasion and notched the equalizer in the 15^th minute where Michael Neacsu connected with Tristan Trager.

The teams entered the halftime locker room knotted up at one with the Falcons holding the advantage in first-half shots, 7-2.

The Falcons found their rhythm in the second half, pressing the offense and denying UNLV opportunities. Trager, who had a hand in four-of-five AF goals over the weekend, assisted Elijah Bussey in the Falcons' second goal in the 68^th minute. The goal marked Bussey's first this season.

The Air Force roll continued behind Trager as he added an insurance goal via feed from senior teammate Lathan Spadafora in the 71^st minute. Trager has 11 goals this season, second-most in the WAC at the time of the strike.

The Falcons spent the majority of the second half teeing off on the Rebels' keeper, taking 10 second-half shots and 17 total on the match. Neacsu, Trager, Spadafora and Bussey tallied three shots apiece.

Falcon goalie Kainoa Likewise secured his second win of the weekend, eighth of the season, making one save on the day. The staunch Air Force defense was successful at cutting the Rebels off before the shot, holding UNLV to just three second-half shots and five total on the match. London Aghedo, the Falcons' key defender, along with Jared Dove and Tyler Johnson recorded 90-minutes of defensive action.

"It was a tremendous response from an early goal against us," head coach Doug Hill said. "Those kinds of things happen and you have to see how your team responds, and today the response was what we were looking for. We're going to work on putting goals away and playing 90 solid minutes Air Force soccer."

Next up, the Falcons hit the road for a pair of matches heading into the Halloween weekend, taking on Utah Valley in Orem, Utah, on Thursday (Oct. 28), and wrapping up the weekend at California Baptist, Saturday (Oct. 30), in Irvine, California. Action is slated for 7 p.m. MT and 7 p.m. PT, respectively. The match against California Baptist will be played at OC Park in Irvine.

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Team Stats

Tristan Trager

Elijah Bussey

Michael Neacsu

Giuliano Daniel

Players Mentioned

London Aghedo

Elijah Bussey

Jared Dove

Tyler Johnson

Kainoa Likewise

Michael Neacsu

Lathan Spadafora

Tristan Trager

Players Mentioned

London Aghedo

Elijah Bussey

Jared Dove

Tyler Johnson

Kainoa Likewise

Michael Neacsu

Lathan Spadafora

Tristan Trager

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