There is an old saying that goes “the third time is a charm.” That phrase perfectly applies to the UTRGV Women’s Soccer Team after defeating Texas Southern University 4-1 tonight.
The women’s team took on TSU in the pursuit of obtaining its first preseason win. The women also wanted to obtain their first-ever victory against TSU and score their first goal against them.
Before tonight’s match, UTRGV and TSU had faced each other twice. The first time that they met on the field was in 2014 and that game was scoreless.
Fast forward to 2015, when they faced each other once again TSU edged UTRGV 1-0.
In the opening game of the 2018 season, it would all change. UTRGV went into the game with a strong offensive lineup led by team captain Diandra Aliaga, who was key to the success of the first goal. Ten minutes into the game, Aliaga gave an assist right into the box to freshman Elina Seppala.
Seppala was opened up the scoreboard in favor of the Vaqueras.
Five minutes after the first goal came the second goal for UTRGV as Diana Ansah crossed the ball over to the front of the net, where Sarah Bonney was waiting. Bonney placed it right into the net to give the Vaqueras a 2-0 lead.
Things were just getting started for UTRGV. Having one freshman score was not enough. After TSU committed a foul, the Vaqueras were granted a free kick. Emily Zapata took the free kick, placing it right into the top left corner of the net.
Zapata, a freshman education major, said she was excited to score her first collegiate- level goal.
“I am really excited because I scored,” she said. “I didn’t expect that I was going to score. It all depended on my team. If it wasn’t for them, then I wouldn’t have had the free kick.”
Seconds after the third goal, UTRGV committed a foul against TSU in the box. TSU was given a penalty kick. Their main focus was to score their first goal of the match. Kayla Smith put TSU on the scoreboard. As the first half came to an end, UTRGV led TSU 3-1.
The second half was filled with substitutions for the Vaqueras. Among those substitutions was Jada MacLean, who scored the fourth and final goal of the night. The match ended in a 4-1 victory for the Vaqueras.
It was a historic night for the Vaqueras. Head Coach Glad Bugariu said the difference between past games against TSU and this game were the ups and downs they faced.
“This is the third time that we play them, but this is the first time we’ve played them when we’ve been an established Division 1 program,” Bugariu said. “The first two times we played them were in our first two years of the program. Those are ups-and-down years and now that we’re established Division 1, we expect to beat teams like this.”
After tonight’s win, UTRGV is hoping to keep the momentum going as it faces Oral Roberts University at 2 p.m. Sunday in Edinburg.
