RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's soccer team is well into their preseason workouts and now will have opportunity to put that to the test when they host a trio of exhibition matches starting on Saturday against Coastal Bend College at 11 a.m. at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex. 
 
Admission is free but fans will be required to have the soccer pass to attend any of the home matches and exhibitions and can register for the UTRGV Soccer Pass for free at GoUTRGV.com/SoccerPass.
 
Along with Coastal Bend, the Vaqueros will host St. Mary's on Aug. 19 at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex and Texas A&M International on Aug. 23 at Veterans Memorial High School in Brownsville. 
 
Finally Seeing Someone Different
Friday's exhibition match will mark the first time the Vaqueros get to face someone else other than each other. Practices have been intense and competitive the first couple of weeks, and the Vaqueros are excited to see someone else on pitch. 
 
"I am excited that the guys get to see an opponent," UTRGV Head Coach Bryheem Hancock said. "It's been 10 days of hard work and a lot of competing to see where we are going to be in two weeks from now. The goal for us is to be ready for the opening match. We look forward to getting some of the kinks out of not playing with each other. As much as we have developed, we need a match to see where we are at as a group. I told the guys that they don't get many of these matches every year and they come fast. The level of excitement is there, and we want them to funnel that excitement into a good performance tomorrow."
 
Passing the Fitness Test
The Vaqueros have put an emphasis on being fit this preseason. They set a high bar on the first day of practice and have been raising it ever since. 
 
Friday's exhibition match, which will be played in the South Texas heat, will be a true test of the Vaqueros fitness. 
 
"Last Monday and this Monday we tested the guys," Hancock said. "I can tell that the fitness was where it needed to be last week, but this week just showed that the work we have put in, they have put in as well. More importantly, the group has gotten fitter. I think now we get match minutes, which are important. It will be good to see them play a duration where we know their workload will be high, so we can really evaluate with two weeks left until the regular season."
 
Brand New Squad
The Vaqueros have almost a brand-new squad heading into the 2025 season and the first couple of weeks has been an opportunity to create that family bond. 
 
Out of the 26 on the roster, 20 are new to the team. The returners are Alexis Gonzalez, Arev Vera, Sota Matsuo, Sora Noda, Daniel Flores, and Diogo Mendoca Bastos.
 
The Vaqueros have taken advantage of their time on and off the pitch to gel with each other and that's been a huge benefit over the last couple of weeks. 
 
"I am super happy and excited to come out to training every day," Hancock said. "They have an off the field bond already. It's hasn't been forced. I say it all the time, you can't be fake with each other. You have to be real. If you are real with each other, that's when you see personalities and get to learn about each other. I think they have done that and us coaches getting to learn about them and they learn about us. We have shared a lot of laughs so far and that's a good sign for us so far."
 
Have Fun but…
Going into the first exhibition match on Friday, Coach Hancock wants the squad to go out and have fun but at the same time he wants to see some of the concepts they have been working on over the last few weeks. 
 
With just three exhibitions before the start of the regular season, Coach Hancock wants to see progression in all aspects of the game. 
 
"I just want to have fun," Hancock said. "Mainly, I want them to implement things we have worked on, whether it's attacking, making sure of our shape and structure is good, making sure that the relationship of each line is where it needs to be. Defensively, like every team, you want to be organized and that the lines are tight and communicating with each other in everything we do defensively as a group."

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