RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's soccer team earned a nail-biting 3-2 victory over the UNLV Rebels in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opener Thursday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
UTRGV (4-4-0, 1-0-0 WAC) used goals from sophomore forward
Kgodiso Sukati, graduate student midfielder
Reda Ikarrain and sophomore defender
Juan Pablo Gonzalez to open the conference campaign on a high note. Goalkeeper
Alexis Gonzalez made four saves.
Both teams started the match hot. UNLV put a shot on goal in the opening minute, stopped by Gonzalez. In the third minute, freshman forward
Keaviano Francis sent a good shot to the net that was stopped by
Hugo Lemos. Sophomore midfielder
Cade Erickson took two shots before Sukati cashed in on a penalty kick in the eighth minute to put the Vaqueros on top, 1-0.
Gonzalez made his second save in the 10
th minute as the teams continued to push the pace. UTRGV got a second penalty kick in the 17
th minute, and Ikarrain turned the great opportunity into a 2-0 lead.
The Rebels cut their deficit in half off a goal from
Kai Merrill in the 33
rd minute. UTRGV went back up by two as freshman forward
Jaime Carrillo found
Juan Pablo Gonzalez in the final minutes of the first half to make it 3-1.
The teams combined to take 15 shots in the first half, with UTRGV outshooting the Rebels 9-6 as they played aggressive from the first whistle. It was a chippy matchup, with 10 combined fouls in the first 45 minutes.
The Vaqueros and Rebels played each other tight as the match rolled into the second half. In the 63
rd minute,
Michael Vogel scored a goal, assisted by
Lucas Gelebart, to trim UTRGV's lead to 3-2.
Both teams continued to press, with UTRGV taking eight shots in the second half and UNLV getting four looks. Lemos ended the night with two saves, but the damage done by the Vaqueros in the first half was too much to overcome.
UTRGV will be back in action Sunday at 12 p.m. in a WAC match against Utah Tech at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex. Admission is free and all fans must follow the clear bag policy, details of which can be found at GoUTRGV.com/ClearBag.
Fans unable to attend in person can watch domestically on ESPN+ or internationally via WAC International.
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