USAFA, Colo. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros men's soccer team fell 3-1 to the Air Force (AFA) Falcons at Cadet Soccer Stadium and Holaday Athletic Center Friday.
Trailing 2-0, the Vaqueros (2-2-1) got on the board with a penalty kick strike from senior captain
Mouhamed Pouye. Pouye now leads the Vaqueros in goals with three on the season and points with seven.
Pouye's goal came inside the Holaday Athletic Center after the match was moved to the indoor facility in the 65
th minute due to inclement weather.
The Falcons (1-3-3) got on the board first as
Doran Farrell scored with a solid strike off a pass from
Braedon Gehring in the 21
st minute. The Falcons tacked on to their lead with goals in the 53
rd minute from
Logan Zaa and the 76
th minute by
Quinn Muderiak.
Senior
Malang Mandiang put the first shot on goal in the match, seizing a solid opportunity in the fourth minute, but it was saved by Falcons' goalkeeper
Hunter Anderson. From there, the Falcons applied significant pressure, thwarting any attempts inside the offensive third from the Vaqueros.
On the other side of the pitch, Air Force kept UTRGV on its heels, accumulating 10 shots in the frame while the Vaqueros only generated four shots. UTRGV goalkeeper
Conrad Knight kept the match close with four saves in the first half.
The second half started slow for both offenses, keeping possession within the middle third before the Falcons converted for their second goal of the night.
Once moving indoors, the Vaqueros began applying pressure, generating back-to-back corner kicks in the 70
th and 71
st minutes. Pouye converted a penalty kick in the 74
th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Vaqueros forced Anderson to make a pair of saves in the waning minutes of the match but could not convert as the Falcons held on for the win.
Yellow cards were given to sophomore
Dylan Hernandez, Pouye, and fifth-year
Eduardo De Oliveira. Meanwhile, Air Force also received three yellow cards, two to student-athletes Farrell and
Tucker Kern, and one to the coaching staff on the bench.
The Falcons outshot the Vaqueros 14-11 with a 7-4 advantage on goal. The Falcons also generated seven corner kicks to the Vaqueros' six. Knight ended the match with a career-high four saves while Anderson tallied three.
UTRGV will return home for its Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) opener against Lindenwood on Saturday, Sept. 26, which is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. at UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex. All matches at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex are free and open to the public.
UTRGV Athletics has a clear bag policy for spectators attending all athletic events hosted by UTRGV. You can get all the details
here.
Fans can watch live domestically on
ESPN+ or internationally via
Southland International. Fans can also follow along through
live stats.
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