HOUSTON – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's soccer program dropped their regular season finale 4-0 to the HCU Huskies at Sorrels Field Sunday.
UTRGV (4-6-5, 2-4-4 OVC) was led offensively by fifth year
Eduardo De Oliveira who tallied two shots on goal while sophomore
Sammy Jadid recorded the other shot on frame in the match. Sophomore goalkeeper
Conrad Knight tallied four saves in the match.
HCU (6-7-5, 4-3-3 OVC) was led by
Ryan Okerayi who notched a brace in the match which included the game-winning goal.
Jess Degenaers and
Marcos Moore also scored goals in the match. Meanwhile,
Aidan Lopez recorded two assists and Moore,
Nana Obeng, and
Clarenns Sainrimat tallied an assist in the match. HCU goalkeeper
Harvey Heeps recorded three saves in the match to record the shutout.
With the loss and Eastern Illinois' draw against SIUE, UTRGV is eliminated from the OVC Men's Soccer Tournament.
UTRGV controlled the first 25 minutes of the match. Five minutes into the match, senior
Malang Mandiang had the first run of the day, dribbling just inside the left side of the box and delivering a strike that sailed over the goal.
In the 11
th minute, freshman
Mauricio Arreguin leapt into the box to control a long pass off his chest. Arreguin moved past his defender and sent a low cross to sophomore
Sammy Jadid who attempted a sliding shot that was wrangled in by Heeps.
Junior
Elias Taj recovered a loose ball in the box and fired a shot that traveled on a good line but was blocked by the ankles of HCU defender
Nick Kross to generate a corner kick for the Vaqueros.
On the ensuing corner, Abeal delivered a liner to the near post where fifth year
Eduardo De Oliveira hit a header to the near post but was punched away by the leaping Heeps.
Okerayi opened the scoring in the 33rd minute before adding his second goal in the 53rd minute to give HCU a 2-0 lead.
In their final push, Jadid worked his way into the box and delivered a low cross to the awaiting De Oliveira who fired a one-touch shot to the near post. Heeps once again delivered for the Huskies, knocking it away to secure the shutout.
With the Vaqueros being ultra-aggressive in the final 10 minutes, the Huskies scored two goals on counterattacks as Moore and Degenaers scored in the 86
th and 89
th minute, respectively.
HCU outshot UTRGV 14-7 with an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal. UTRGV held a 6-4 advantage on corner kicks.
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