Men's Soccer Hosts UNLV on Sunday

GAME 12

Air Force (0-11-1, 0-2 WAC) vs. UNLV (3-5-2, 1-1 WAC)
3 p.m. MT, Sunday, October 8
Cadet Soccer Stadium – USAFA, Colo.

The Falcons return to the Academy to host UNLV in a Sunday afternoon matchup at Cadet Soccer Stadium. Action on October 8 is scheduled for 3 p.m. MT.

THE SERIES
The Falcons will meet with UNLV for the 45th time in program history. Air Force leads the all-time series, 24-16-4. In the last 13 meetings, the Falcons are 9-3-2 against the Rebels. UNLV has not beat the Falcons at USAFA since 2003— Air Force is 10-0-1 against UNLV in the last 11 meetings at the Academy. The Rebels' last win against Air Force was the WAC Championship match in 2016. Last season, Air Force downed the Rebels, 2-1, in Vegas.

A GLANCE AT UNLV
The Rebels have one common opponent with Air Force; San Jose State, who they bested on Thursday (Oct. 5), 2-0, in Vegas. Nico Lopez is UNLV's top producer with two goals and five assists. Nine Rebels have goals on the season led by Lopez, Tyler Ware, and Kai Merrill with two goals apiece. In goal, Hugo Limos has most minutes, making eight starts in eight appearances with a 1.54 GAA and .755 save percentage.

AIR FORCE SCORERS
Luke Hill and Remi Smith lead the squad with three goals apiece. Smith is 2-2 in PKs while Hill scored one at the penalty line. Hill has 22 shots to his credit this season, 10 on goal. Smith has taken eight shots on target in 13 total attempts. Carter Rizzo and Aidan Grubbs scored their first career goals to round out AF's eight goals on the 2023 campaign.

UP NEXT
The Falcons hit the road for a pair of WAC road matches with Utah Valley and Utah Tech. The Falcons take on the Wolverines in Orem, Thursday (Oct. 12), and the Trailblazers in St. George on Sunday (Oct. 15). Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m. MT and 1:30 p.m. MT, respectively.

LAST WEEK
The Falcons were scoreless in a pair of losses to open the Western Athletic Conference slate. San Jose State edged by the Falcons, 1-0, on Thursday in San Jose. On Sunday in Seattle, the Redhawks blanked Air Force, 2-0.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
SEATTLE U CLIMBS TO #17 IN UNITED SOCCER COACHES TOP 25
Seattle U continued its climb in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll on Oct. 3, moving up six spots to 17th with a 7-2-2 record (2-0-0 WAC). The Redhawks, leaders in the WAC standings with six points, have earned a result in nine of their past 10 starts overall dating back to Aug. 27.

FOUR TEAMS UNBEATEN AFTER OPENING WEEK OF WAC MATCHES
Four teams emerged from the first week of WAC conference matches with unbeaten records. Conference leader Seattle U earned six points with a pair of wins against Utah Valley (5-2) and Air Force (2-0), while San José State logged four points after beating Air Force (1-0) and tying Utah Valley (1-1). Utah Tech shut out UTRGV 1-0 on the road and California Baptist blanked Grand Canyon 3-0 out of the gate to kickstart the conference slate.

WAC TEAMS IN THE NCAA RPI
In the latest release of the NCAA RPI for the 2023 season on Oct. 1, a pair of teams from the WAC were ranked among the national top 50 in the key metric that helps seed the NCAA Championship. WAC leader Seattle U checked in 27th with a 7-2-2 overall record, with Grand Canyon also among the top 50 slotted 44th with its 5-4-1 mark. Seattle U's 21st ranked opponent strength of schedule was the best in the WAC as of Oct. 1.

WAC TEAMS AMONG THE NCAA LEADERS
As of the latest NCAA Division I men's soccer national statistics report on Oct. 3, UTRGV was fourth in the country in shot accuracy by logging a .548 average on shot attempts on goal thus far this season, and Seattle U checked in sixth in total goals with 25. UTRGV's Keaviano Francis checked in fourth individually in shot accuracy with a clip of .722. Grand Canyon goalkeeper Leon Schmidt ranked third in total saves (53) and seventh in saves per match (5.30), and teammate Jorge Lopez was seventh in match-winning goals (3).

Players Mentioned

Aidan Grubbs

Luke Hill

Carter Rizzo

Remi Smith

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