RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The 2024 season gave The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros women's soccer team plenty of excitement, confidence, and a good foundation to take the program to another level. 
 
"I am very excited about what I saw this season," UTRGV Head Coach Mark Foster said. "Overall, there was a lot of progress and a lot to be excited about. It was our first year in the Southland and when you get into it, you think it's a good move for the department, but the reality is that we don't know until we are in it so having been in it for a year, I can really confirm that it's a good league for us and we are excited about it. This season gave us a good idea of what we need moving forward and the next steps for the program."
 
The Vaqueros finished with a 7-7-5 record after finishing with three wins the season before. Six of those wins came at home after just two wins at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex in 2023. 
 
UTRGV's roster was loaded with underclassmen in 2023 and while most of those carried over into 2024, the confidence continued to grow and that played into the success the Vaqueros saw. 
 
"I think the key was the players continuing to buy in and continuing to trust the process," Foster said. "We are a young team and having another year of experience under our belt helped as well. Then when you get a couple of wins, the confidence starts to kick in and it wasn't just the game that we won. There were four or five draws and then we had some really tight losses. Even when we weren't winning, the girls were taking confidence from those matches. We lost to Rice one nil, but the girls came away with a sense that we competed and played well against a top team. I think confidence kicked in early this season and it led to much better performances and joy all around."
 
That joy could be seen and felt throughout the complex, whether it was during practice or match, and that fed into the play on the pitch. 
 
The Vaqueros recorded eight shutouts on the season, which tied for the second most in a single season in program history. The Vaqueros even put together a shutout streak that spanned over four-straight wins. 
 
After allowing 35 goals in 2023, the Vaqueros allowed just 23 in 2024. A strong defense gave the Vaqueros an opportunity to have balanced attack on both sides of the ball. 
 
"Sometimes as a coach we get asked if we are a defensive coach or an attacking coach and I always joke that without the ball I am a defensive coach and when we have the ball, I am an attacking coach," Foster said. "This was the first year that we looked like we had a balance on both sides of the ball. You don't get that many clean sheets with one defender or one keeper. To get that many clean sheets, you need a whole team defensive effort, and we really bought into that."
 
While the Vaqueros took pride in their defense, they still had their own offensive identity that scored twice as many goals in 2024 (24) than in 2023 (12). 
 
The 24 goals ranked sixth most in a single season in program history, but the Vaqueros felt like there were even more chances for them to score even more goals. 
 
The Vaqueros were led offensively by Savannah Frisby, who led the team with 15 points on seven goals and one assist. Her seven goals tied for fourth in the Southland this season. 
 
After a slow start to her UTRGV career, Frisby has found her confidence and has become a force to be reckoned with.
 
"Her first year was interrupted with injuries," Foster said. "I know she played a lot, but she showed good character and played through those injuries. This year, she was able to stay injury free, for the most part, and she was able to get more services and finishes. Having a healthy and confident Savannah on the field is an advantage. We all have seen how good she can be. She has a redshirt so she will be back next year and hopefully we can get her even healthier and more confident and she will show everyone in the conference that she is a special player."
 
The success on both sides of the ball turned a lot of heads in 2024. The Vaqueros even had success in the classroom with their grades and that was spread throughout the community as well. 
 
One of the things that made that possible has been the culture and chemistry that UTRGV has built since the start of Coach Foster's tenure. 
 
"One of the big emphases we had when we came in as a coaching staff was that we wanted to get the culture right," Foster said. "We put a lot of time and effort to get our culture right and creating that atmosphere where the girls and enjoy and respect each other on and off the field. I certainly see that coming to fruition. The girls are doing great on and off the field and in the classroom. As a coach, I have known that if we just stick with it, it will show up on the field. This year, I was delighted others could see the girls have a real strong bond. That's a credit to them for buying in to what we are doing and buying in to the process of everything we ask of them. It's allowed them to get better results and to have more fun."
 
The Vaqueros also did some learning in 2024, their first season in the Southland Conference. 
 
Things were certainly different from 2023 to 2024 and the Vaqueros will take those differences and learn from them to get even better because they now have the confidence to be able to compete on any given match day. 
 
"Every field is different. Every coach is different," Foster said. "The style of play is different. It was a venture into the unknown and so it gives us an idea of what we will be going up against and what kind of players and style of play will do well in this league. That allows us to know what we need to be working on and what kind of players we need to be recruiting to be effective in this league. The biggest take away is that the Southland is a really good league, however as much as we respect our opponents in the league, we feel like we can win games and challenge to be at the top year in and year out."
 
There was plenty of excitement to go around in 2024 and the Vaqueros know they had a good season, but Coach Foster and the program are already looking forward to 2025.
 
The Vaqueros are confident their best days are still ahead of them. 
 
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