EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's soccer team fell 3-0 to the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Cougars on Sunday at Ralph Korte Stadium, in their first ever meeting in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).
The Cougars (6-6-2, 4-2-1 OVC) got off to a fast start, scoring twice in the opening eight minutes to take an early 2-0 lead.
SIUE's
Ben Perkins opened the scoring just 51 seconds into the match, finding the top right corner of the net off an assist from
Grant Locker.
Locker extended the Cougars' lead in the eighth minute, finding the bottom right corner of the net off a right-footed shot, assisted by
Amos Boum Nlend.
Despite the early deficit, the Vaqueros (3-5-3, 1-3-2 OVC) continued to battle offensively, recording six shots in the opening half. SIUE maintained its two-goal advantage heading into halftime after outshooting UTRGV 11-6.
The Vaqueros came out aggressively in the second half, controlling the offensive opportunities and outshooting the Cougars 12-5 over the final 45 minutes.
However, SIUE added to its lead in the 68th minute when
Ryley Gibbs connected on a right-footed shot into the bottom right corner of the net, assisted by
Michael Lay, to make it 3-0.
UTRGV continued to pressure the Cougars' defense, generating scoring opportunities throughout the second half, but SIUE goalkeeper and the Cougars' defense kept the Vaqueros off the scoreboard.
The Vaqueros finished with an 18-16 advantage in shots and a 10-6 edge in corner kicks. SIUE held an 8-5 advantage in shots on goal.
Sophomore
Dylan Hernandez tallied his fourth yellow card of the campaign in the 58
th minute while the Cougars earned a yellow in the 37
th minute.
Sophomore
Alberto Yañez recorded five saves in his first career start.
UTRGV will return home to complete a weather-suspended OVC match against HCU at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Vaqueros will have a 1-0 lead 69 minutes of match time remaining to play at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.
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