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EDINBURG – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's soccer team dropped a hard fought contest to the No. 23 Utah Valley University Wolverines 1-0 on Friday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
 
It was the program's third match against a top 25 team and first since 1997. It was also the program's first home match against a ranked team.
 
The Vaqueros (4-6-1, 1-2-0 WAC) had one of their best scoring opportunities about 54 minutes into the match when freshman Brownsville Rivera alum Isidro Martinez got a through-ball and then sent a pass into the box. Derek Wilcox (3-1-0, 2-0-0 WAC) missed the ball on a diving attempt, but sophomore Olli Tynkkynen slid for the ball and couldn't connect.
 
The Wolverines (10-2-0, 3-0-0 WAC) responded by coming down the field and scoring about a minute later as Paul Hoffmeister stole the ball from the Vaqueros' defense and sent a shot into the back corner of the net.
 
That was the only shot to get past junior goalkeeper Leo Castillo (3-6-1, 1-2-0 WAC), who made a career-high nine saves.
 
The Vaqueros tried to respond two minutes later when redshirt sophomore Frederik Frankman got the ball at the top of the box and fired on net, but Wilcox dove backward and to his right to make his lone save of the match.
 
The Vaqueros close out the home stand on Sunday at 1 p.m. against No. 19 Seattle U. Gates open at 12.

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