RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros men's soccer team dominated the final 45 minutes of its season to earn a 3-0 victory over the Houston Christian Huskies on Saturday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
Senior defender
Jan Engels, freshman forward
Kgodiso Sukati and junior forward
Juan Rivera scored the goals for UTRGV (7-7-3, 4-4-1 Western Athletic Conference). Junior forward
Michael Washington recorded three assists and graduate student goalkeeper
Garret Wild made three saves.
Both teams showed a lot of effort from the first whistle as they each hoped to end their season with a win. They combined to take 17 shots in the first half alone, 12 for the Huskies (5-8-6, 1-5-3 WAC) and five for the Vaqueros with each putting three on goal.
Wild's three saves came in the first half, two were one minute apart midway through the frame. He needed every inch of his 6-foot-2 frame for two of those saves as he leaped and punched them away at the top of the net. Wild's second save was a big one as he fell on a quick shot close to the goal.
Senior forward
Moiad Ankir took three of UTRGV's first-half shots. Ankir and Engels provided the spark for the Vaqueros offense. Junior midfielder
Raul Carrillo, freshman defender
Juan Pablo Gonzalez and junior
Isaac Ochoa were among the Vaqueros to contribute to a defensive effort that kept HCU off the board despite getting eight corners in the first half.
UTRGV was aggressive in the second half, taking 13 shots and scoring three goals. The Vaqueros took four shots in a one-and-a-half-minute span, using the consistent pressure to take a 1-0 lead in the 69
th minute. Junior forward
Oneeko Allen and graduate student midfielder
Yusuf Cueceoglu took shots that were saved, and after a brief clearance, another shot from Allen was saved but not controlled and Washington fed the rebound to Engels, who scored with a strike to the front left corner of the goal.
Five minutes later, UTRGV put together another hectic stretch. Cueceoglu and Engels took shots that were saved and missed high, then after the Huskies briefly got the ball on their half of the pitch, the Vaqueros came charging and Washington assisted Sukati's 74
th-minute goal, making it 2-0.
With 27 seconds remaining, Washington notched his third assist, delivering a pass across the box to feed Rivera.
Junior forward
Martin Tellez and junior defender
Tristan Singh were among the contributors to a solid defensive performance in the second half, holding HCU to just one shot. Sophomore defender
Anthony Patti, Washington, Ankir, Cueceoglu, Engels and Sukati kept UTRGV's offense attacking to the final whistle to aid a stellar season finale.
Houston Christian goalkeeper
Alex Aitken made nine saves in the losing effort.
Support UTRGV Men's Soccer |
Become a Fan on Facebook |
Follow us on Twitter |
Follow us on Instagram |
Follow us on YouTube
