UNLV & Air Force Game Notes

Gonzaga (5-2-1) vs. UNLV Rebels (2-6-0)
6:00 p.m. | Friday, Sept. 23 | Luger Field
| Live Video

Gonzaga vs. Air Force Falcons
12:00 p.m. | Sunday, Sept. 25 | Cadet Soccer Stadium
| Live Video

BACK ON FAMILIAR SOIL
- After a long four-match road trip where the Zags went 2-2, they are ready to return to the friendly pitch of Luger Field, where they are unbeaten this season. At home, the Zags have outscored their opponents 10-4 and outshot them 25-15.

LIGHT UP LUGER
- Gonzaga's season opener against Bradley was the first-ever soccer match under the new lights at Luger Field. The Zags played the Braves to a 1-1 draw in front of a crowd of 506. The official ceremony for Light Up Luger is Wednesday, Sept. 28, at 7 pm at the field.

LAST TIME OUT
- The No. 20 Gonzaga Bulldogs suffered their second-straight defeat and were unable to erase two early second half goals from UC Riverside, as they fell 1-2 in Riverside, Calif. on Sunday morning, September 18, in near 100-degree heat.

HAD THE RANKING
- For the first time since 2007, Gonzaga entered the NSCAA NCAA Division I Poll, coming in at No. 20 last week. GU fell out of the rankings this week after two-straight losses to finish their road trip.

AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS
- Gonzaga defeated #16 Seattle U at home on September 4th and traveled to Washington, D.C. to down #20 American on September 9th. It is already only the sixth time GU has beaten two ranked opponents in a season.

WCC NEWS AND NOTES
- Gonzaga and Pacific are the only two-loss teams left in the West Coast Conference.
- Gonzaga leads the WCC in goals (16), assists (17), and shots (14.12 per game), and is third in goals-against average (1.09) and fourth in corner kicks (38).
- Head coach Einar Thorarinsson's squad is led in goals by Austin Giftopoulos at three, which is tied for the lead in the West Coast Conference. Ben White leads the team with three assists, also tied for first in the WCC. In goal, Ben Willis is third in the conference with 26 saves.

ABOUT THE SERIES
- Gonzaga is 7-2-1 all-time against the Rebels. The Zags fell 0-1 in Las Vegas on September 27th last season, but prior to that were riding a five-match winning streak against UNLV dating back to 2003. UNLV last visited Spokane on September 20th in 2014, and GU won 4-2. Jakob Granlund scored two goals in the first half, which were quickly equalized by UNLV early in the second frame. Zach Hamer scored the game-winner at 67:54 and Conner Bevans gave some space with a goal in the 89th minute. Seven-of-the-10 matches in the series have been played in Las Vegas, but GU is 2-0 at home, winning the other match 4-1 in Spokane in 2006. John Palladino, Grant Lundberg, John Reha, and Nick Barclay all scored in that match, as GU went 9-8-2 that season.
- GU is 2-1-1 in the series against the Falcons. They enter Sunday's match with a two-match win streak, but have not met Air Force since a 5-3 win in Colorado Springs, Colo. in 2003. GU won at home, 2-1, in 2002. Gonzaga lost 0-1 in 1997 and the match was tied at zero in 1998, as both matches were played at a neutral location. In 2002, Scott Yuska scored both goals for GU after the Falcons had grabbed a 1-0 lead 20 minutes into the match. In 2003, Air Force led 1-0 before Mike Herzog, Grant Lunberg, and Arni Pjeturrson scored three-straight. Two more AFA goals tied the match, but Yuska and Lundberg scored two goals in the last 10 minutes to secure the victory.

NCAA Top-10
- The Zags mark of 17 assists are sixth in the NCAA, their 16 goals are 11th, and their 49 points rank ninth.

WCC ON THE HORIZON
- The match against UNLV is the last home non-conference match of the season. GU will travel to Air Force on September 25th before hosting Portland at home on October 9th at 2 pm to begin WCC action.