RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's soccer team earned a sound 2-0 non-conference victory over the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW) Cardinals on Wednesday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
Junior forward
Michael Washington and junior forward
Oneeko Allen scored goals for UTRGV (6-7-3, 3-4-1 Western Athletic Conference). Graduate student goalkeeper
Garret Wild, a Brownsville native, made his first start in goal and recorded two saves. The Vaqueros outshot UIW (2-12-0) 19-5 and looked in control throughout the match. UIW keeper
Hugo Constant made four saves.
The Vaqueros were in attack mode from the opening whistle, outshooting the Cardinals 12-2 in the first half and putting three shots on goal while earning five corners to UIW's zero. Washington, graduate student midfielder
Yusuf Cueceoglu and junior forward
Martin Tellez were particularly impressive leading the charge. Washington put two shots on goal and gave UTRGV the 1-0 in the first half. Washington received a great feed from Tellez and showed off a spin move to evade a defender before launching a shot to the back of the net in the 43
rd minute.
Senior forward
Moiad Ankir and senior defender
Jan Engels also aided the offensive effort in the first half, while sophomore defender
Anthony Patti and Co. played strong defense to keep UIW unable to do much or maintain possession in its offensive third.
UTRGV switched up its lineup in the second half but still continued to dominate the match, which got physical down the stretch. Freshman forward
Kgodiso Sukati, junior forward
Jason Robles and graduate student midfielder
Beto Carrillo kept the Vaqueros pressing offensively. Twice UTRGV put together fast attacks that looked promising but were called offsides.
In the 76
th minute, Allen showed off his speed to reel in an assist from Robles and beat two defenders to score a goal, making it 2-0. UIW put its first shot on goal four minutes later, but Wild came up with the save. Wild recorded another save in the 88
th minute off a free kick.
Freshman defender
Juan Pablo Gonzalez and junior midfielder
Raul Carrillo played solid defense in the second half to support Wild's shutout.
The Vaqueros will play their regular season finale on Nov. 5 against WAC opponent Houston Christian at 6:30 p.m. at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
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