Spurred by 647 fans in the stands, the UNLV men's soccer team surged in the second half with a pair of unanswered goals en route to a season-opening 2-0 victory over Tulsa Thursday evening at Peter Johann Memorial Field.

Senior Brophy Howard broke the Rebels' (1-0) scoring open in the 64th minute as a lead pass from junior Jonah Craig sent him past the Golden Hurricane (0-1) for a score from outside the 18. A little over five minutes later, sophomore Mikah Madrid netted his goal in the 69th minute when the ball was directly headed toward him by a Tulsa defender attempting a clearance from within the box.

The Scarlet & Gray defensive backline and sophomore goalkeeper Hugo Lemos picked up the shutout after parrying eight Tulsa shots on the night. Lemos recorded five saves for the win in net as UNLV ended up winning a tight battle in overall shot attempts, 9-8.

QUOTABLE: "I thought we really grew as the game went. That's a sign of this group and what we've focused on, which was getting better than the last time we played. After our two preseason exhibitions, in our first real game, I thought the guys performed really well and we're pleased to take a good result with it." - UNLV Head Coach BJ Craig