RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros women's soccer team fell to the Texas A&M-Corpus Christi Islanders 4-3 in a South Texas Showdown contest presented by Navy Army Community Credit Union on Sunday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
Sophomore midfielder
Molly Reynosa and sophomore forward
Amy Hislop scored goals for UTRGV (0-2-0). TAMUCC (2-0-0) was led offensively by
Maggie Murray, who scored two goals, and had
Reese Cross and
Emma Herrera score as well.
The intensity of the rivalry was felt early as the teams combined to score five goals in the first half. Reynosa gave the Vaqueros a quick 1-0 advantage in the third minute of the contest on a heads-up hustle play, racing to steal a pass from TAMUCC's goalkeeper to a teammate just outside of the box. The sophomore showed off her dribbling to beat the keeper, sending her diving and leaving the net open, and Reynosa buried the goal in the back left corner.
The Islanders tied the contest in the 13
th minute as Murray's first goal sailed just over the hands of UTRGV's leaping keeper and rolled into the net after an unlucky bounce off the crossbar.
UTRGV answered immediately with help from the Islanders. Freshman midfielder
Alaina Granger sent a strong free kick into the box, and it deflected off a TAMUCC player for an own goal to make it 2-1 in favor of the Vaqueros.
TAMUCC took its first lead of the contest 3-2 after two unanswered goals. Cross scored in the 22
nd minute as a deep cross pass sailed over the keeper. In the 28
th minute, Murray sent a header into the net for her second goal.
The Vaqueros got off to a quick start again in the second half to tie the contest at 3-3 in the 47
th minute. Redshirt junior midfielder
Cami Dade launched a long pass from UTRGV's defensive third all the way across midfield to Hislop, who played an outstanding game from the first whistle. Hislop beat two Islanders then sent the keeper diving to sneak the first goal of her Vaqueros career inside of the left post.
Freshman goalkeeper
Emma Lööv took over for starting freshman goalkeeper
Emilie Schroeder in the second half and held up well against heavy pressure by the Islanders midway through the second half. Lööv went airborne to her left to punch away a shot on goal, then shortly after, she dove to her right to deflect another scoring attempt.
But the Islanders jumped on top 4-3 in the 76
th minute on a goal by Herrera off a corner kick.
UTRGV got one last chance with a free kick in the final minute and emptied the net to have all bodies in the box, but the equalizer didn't come.
The Vaqueros' next match will be Thursday at 7:30 p.m. against Kansas State after the men's team faces Bryant at 4 p.m. at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
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