EDINBURG - Luis Cardenas supplied the scoring punch Sunday when the University of Texas-Pan American kissed Sun Belt Conference soccer goodbye by shocking South Alabama, 3-1.

Cardenas kicked his second goal, nailing a rebound off Ryan Knell's shot, with 34 seconds remaining to clinch UTPA's only conference win this season.

The Broncs upset the five-time defending champions of the Sun Belt, which voted to drop soccer as an official sport in 1997. UTPA plans to keep playing soccer as an independent or in another league.

Feisty little Pablo Villareal, the 5-foot-4 freshman from Edinburg North, broke a 1-1 tie in the 14th minute when he rebounded a missed shot by Cardenas (who shot 2-for-4 Sunday) from five yards.

It stayed 2-1 for 75 dramatic minutes. Brian Toddof USA missed tying it with three minutes remaining on a shot that struck the post. Then Jesus Leon struck the crossbar for UTPA with 1:30 left.

Cardenas zipped UTPA ahead in the first 11:47 with a sliding putback of Villareal's shot as it missed the far post by 18 inches.

USA's Jaguars, tired from a 3-2 overtime loss to Jacksonville Saturday, equalized in the 13th minute on Stefan Thordarson's penalty kick.

"I don't know if this is a historical win -  or just a win," said Dr. Miguel Paredes, Bronc coach. "Have we beaten South Alabama before?" The answer was no, certifying it as historical.

"I feel really proud of the way the team did it," Paredes added. "They beat a team that took Jacksonville to overtime yesterday. It's tough to single out anybody. They all did a very good job. I feel especially proud of Nauri Garcia, because he has an injured knee but he played a few minutes in his last Division I game. Jesus Leon, our other senior, also ended his Division I career - unfortunately he missed that goal that hit the crossbar at the end."

"Gabe Serda was our captain for this game because Danny Cortez was out with a red card. Serda did an excellent job commanding the defense. He placed the defense excellently and is a real leader."

"Mike Espinosa had a terrific game as a lateral and helped in the midfield," Paredes said. "He made the run that set up the shot that hit the crossbar. He played really, really, well all 90 minutes."

"Our freshman played tremendously, and Ryan and Albert Vasquez played several full games after other players injured."

The Broncs improved to 3-11 on the season and to 1-4 in the SBC. USA dropped to 5-7-1 and 2-3 with its youngest team in years.

Cardenas, a former standout center midfielder for McAllen Memorial, might repeat as All-Sun Belt after his farewell effort. He had played defense much of the last two seasons but his move to forward paid off. "This was the most goals I've scored in a college game," he said.

The Broncs have two games left - against the UTPA Alumni in an exhibition Oct. 27 and against Schreiner College Nov. 2 -  both at home.