RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's soccer team played to a 1-1 draw against the Utah Tech Trailblazers in a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) match on Friday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
UTRGV (2-5-3, 0-2-1 WAC) freshman forward
Kgodiso Sukati scored in the third minute. Freshman goalkeeper
Simon Madsen made three saves. Utah Tech (3-7-1, 1-1-1 WAC) goalkeeper
Stockton Short recorded five saves and the Trailblazers goal was scored by
Anthony Godinez.
The Vaqueros quickly took a 1-0 advantage on a goal by Sukati just three minutes into the contest. Graduate student midfielder
Beto Carrillo found graduate student midfielder
Yusuf Cueceoglu through traffic, and Cueceoglu sent a pass to the driving Sukati, who sent a strike with his left foot past the diving keeper.
Utah Tech tied things at 1-1 in the 18
th minute off a strike from Godinez
. The first half was eventful and physical, with both teams being issued yellow cards in the 19
th minute.
Madsen made two saves in the first half and UTRGV outshot Utah Tech 8-3, sending five shots on goal. Cueceoglu was credited with three shots, two on goal, in the first 45 minutes, while junior defender
Tristan Singh, freshman defender
Rasmus Steuch, junior forward
Jason Robles and Carrillo each took one shot. Senior defender
Jan Engels and freshman defender
Juan Pablo Gonzalez contributed to an impressive offensive effort that saw the Vaqueros create good chances and maintain possession in their offensive third.
The second half was a back-and-forth affair that saw the teams spending even amounts of time in their respective attacking thirds. The goalies and defenses, along with an abundance of whistles after contact, kept either team from finding an offensive rhythm resulting in a score. UTRGV was issued three yellow cards in the second half, and Utah Tech drew one.
Robles, Sukati, Cueceoglu, junior forward
Martin Tellez and junior forward
Oneeko Allen were among the Vaqueros that kept the UTRGV offense pressing as time winded down. UTRGV once again outshot the Trailblazers, 7-4 in the second half, but only got one shot on goal and couldn't find the winner as Short was strong in the net.
Madsen made two big saves in the final minute to maintain the draw, first leaping into traffic to haul in a shot, then diving to his right and knocking away a sharp kick.
The Vaqueros' next match is set for 12 p.m. Sunday against UNLV at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
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