EDINBURG - Packed with young talent plus junior Mario Ribera who ranked No. 2 nationally in scoring two years ago, the University of Texas-Pan American starts its soccer season at 3 p.m. here Friday against Texas Christian.

The Broncs play again on their campus field at noon Sunday against Missouri-Kansas City.

"Our coaching staff has tried to adapt the team to the mid-day heat, which could be to our advantage against TCU and UMKC," said Coach Eloy Moran of the Broncs. "The young men have worked hard."

Shane Hurley of Harlingen and Demian Morquin of Argentina, two Broncs stars of the early 1990's, will assist Moran as coaches this year.

UTPA has five seniors on a 23-man squad. They are Eric Jarvis, Arizona; Alector Cardenas, Arnoldo Cardenas, Rafael Cardenas and Ricardo Ochoa, all of McAllen. Ribera, from Bolivia, joins goalie Albert Flroes, Corpus Christi; Miguel Santos, McAllen; and Peter Goaleck, Houston, as the juniors. There are five sophs, nine freshmen.

TCU starts four freshmen and two sophomores. The Horned Frogs have lost twice by the identical 2-1 score to Hardin-Baylor and LeTourneau. TCU stands 1-2 after shutting out Schreiner, 4-0.

UTPA is trying to bounce back from a 4-7-2 record in 1993. Ribera fell from 72 points (two per goal, one per assist) as a freshman to nine points as a soph, when he was heavily marked.