Utah Tech men's soccer clinched a spot in the WAC Tournament with a 2-1 win over UNLV on senior day at Greater Zion Stadium. The Trailblazers erased a 1-0 deficit with two first-half goals to secure the victory.

"We finished last spring at UNLV and didn't play very well," UT head coach Jonny Broadhead said. "They kind of had the upper hand on us. It was kind of a disaster of a game and it affected the team a lot. I knew we were going to have them again because they are in our conference, and to go down early and to put it together — That goal on the header from Tanner Dutra, first college goal as a redshirt freshman, with the way that they were set up in there, to find that little space. I can't help but think with football and volleyball, I didn't say anything to the guys but I was like, 'There's a little bit of magic on campus this weekend from those results and I hope that magic sticks around,' and I think that helped on that corner. Samir Cuevas is an unbelievable player and Stockton Short is an unbelievable goalkeeper and those things all came together today. We have a tough group that are brothers and for that to be the last home game and we're able to come back, as a coach I'm very pleased."

The Rebels struck first with a goal on a breakaway in the eighth minute. Sophomore Lucas Gélébart sent a through ball to sophomore Kai Merrill who buried his shot in the bottom right of the net. 

Redshirt freshman Tanner Dutra tied the game with a header off a corner kick by sophomore Jason Buezo in the 15th minute. It was the Trailblazers' first shot of the match and Dutra's first career goal. 

In the 18th minute, goalkeeper Stockton Short stopped a shot to his right for his first save of the afternoon. Short earned his second save of the match on a Rebel shot down the middle in the 29th minute. 

Sophomore Samir Cuevas stole the ball off a Rebel defender and launched a chip over the UNLV goalkeeper and into the back of the net in the 42nd minute. The game-winning goal was Cuevas' fourth of the season and third in the last four matches. 

SAMIR CUEVAS!!! 🤯🤯🤯#UtahTechBlazers 🦬 | #WACmsoc pic.twitter.com/tjWh8tI2XX

— Utah Tech Men's Soccer (@UtahTech_MSOC) November 3, 2024

The Trailblazers survived a barrage of seven shots in the second half to maintain their 2-1 lead. Short flashed diving saves on a Rebel header in the 77th minute and a shot to the bottom right of the net in the 89th minute to total four saves on the afternoon.

Utah Tech (4-9-4, 3-4-2 WAC) was charged with the only two offside calls of the match. UNLV (5-7-5, 2-2-5 WAC) outshot the Trailblazers 11-9 with a 5-2 lead in shots on goal. The Rebels committed more fouls, 14-11, and did not muster a save in the contest. 

With the win, UT will play in the quarterfinal round of the WAC Tournament against either No. 4 seed San José State or No. 3 California Baptist on Sunday, Nov. 10 at GCU Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona.