RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley men's soccer team opened its season with a 3-1 victory over the Bryant University Bulldogs on Thursday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
Freshman defender
Rasmus Steuch, junior forward
Juan Rivera and senior defender
Jan Engels scored goals for the Vaqueros (1-0-0). Junior forward
Jason Robles tallied two assists. Freshman goalkeeper
Simon Madsen made one save on three shots faced. The Bulldogs' (0-1-0) lone goal was scored by
Adam Kozubal.
It was a physical contest that saw plenty of bodies on the ground from the opening whistle, with the teams combining to commit 11 fouls in the first half and 18 overall. UTRGV was issued two yellow cards and the Bulldogs received one.
The Vaqueros dominated possession throughout the contest. They outshot Bryant 8-1 and 4-0 with shots on goal in the first half, then added another eight shots in the second half while the Bulldogs only took three shots, with two on goal, during the whole game.
Steuch snagged the first goal of the UTRGV season in the 20
th minute. Robles chased down a crossing pass that didn't connect in the right corner of the pitch, then set up Steuch. The freshman from Denmark beat a defender and roped his first Vaqueros goal off his left foot past the diving keeper for the 1-0 advantage.
Bryant created some chances, but UTRGV's defense was always up to the task. Junior defender
Tristan Singh and junior La Joya High alum
Isaac Ochoa were two big contributors to the defensive showcase.
Robles, Steuch, graduate student midfielder
Yusuf Cueceoglu and sophomore defender
Anthony Patti helped the Vaqueros monopolize ball control.
Robles picked up his second assist as he and junior midfielder
Raul Carrillo combined to set up a goal by Rivera
. In the 79
th minute, Robles dumped a soft pass to the crashing Rivera, and Rivera beat the goalkeeper straight-up with a laser kick off his left foot to the heart of the net to make it 2-0.
The Bulldogs cut their deficit to 2-1 in the 87
th minute after a slew of Bryant substitutions off the foot of Kozubal.
Moments later, Engels launched a penalty kick to the left while Bryant's keeper dove right to extend the lead to 3-1 with one minute remaining on the clock.
The Vaqueros will face Oral Roberts at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
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