Back in the win column

After going winless in back-to-back games, the UTRGV Women’s Soccer Team routed Our Lady of the Lake University with a dominating 3-0 final score tonight at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex. 

Junior forward Emily Zapata scored a pair of goals to make her the program’s leader in career goals with 29.

Zapata surpassed the previous record of 27 goals set by Sarah Bonney, who played for the Vaqueras from 2016-2019. 

Asked if she thought she was going to be the program goal leader when she got to UTRGV, Zapata replied, “No, I had [a good competitor] Bonney. She was really good and she told me, ‘One day you’re gonna do it. You’re gonna pass my record,’ and I did.” 

After Zapata scored the first goal in the 22nd minute, she made a heart symbol with her hands toward the camera and said it was dedicated to her family, who could not make it to the game. 

“I feel happy,” she said. “[It is] something that I have been working on. I had promised my family that I was going to break it and here I am.”

UTRGV Women’s Soccer Team head coach Glad Bugariu said it is no surprise that Zapata broke the record. 

“I know she was going to break it at some point. … It was just a matter of time,” he said. “She’s got another season left after this. So, she will set the record to a very high level and I don’t see anyone breaking it anytime soon.”

The second goal came in the 82nd minute from graduate midfielder Victoria Mayo in the lower right corner of the goal and was assisted by junior midfielder Ana Recarte-Pacheco. The last goal came from Zapata, assisted by sophomore midfielder Anna Torslov, in the 85th to put the final nail in the coffin for the Saints. 

“I thought it was actually quite a difficult game,” Bugariu said. “I don’t want to say we didn’t play particularly well. I thought [Our] Lady of the Lake [University] played quite well and made it difficult for us. You know, they found the spaces that we left quite well, and overall it was a challenge.” 

Today was a good learning experience, he said.

“The goals we scored were quite good,” Bugariu said. “They were well-worth goals and that is a credit to their organization.”

Arthur Salazar, Our Lady of the Lake University Women’s Soccer head coach, told The Rider that overall, he was disappointed in his team’s performance.

“I thought we did a good job in the first half of controlling the tempo, and really kind of creating some opportunities,” Salazar said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do enough in the final third to be as effective as I feel we should have to impact the game.”

The Saints (3-3) outshot UTRGV 11 to 9 and had the same shots on goal with four but could not put one past freshman goalkeeper Macie Blohowiak, who had four saves tonight.

Mental lapses in the attacking third and not being desperate enough to put the ball in the back of the net was one of the differences that resulted in a loss, Salazar said.

“They executed and we didn’t, and that, I feel, is the difference maker,” he said.

The Vaqueras (4-4-1) will face off against Kansas State University at 1 p.m. Sunday in Manhattan, Kansas.

“Hopefully we can have an away game that we could win,” Zapata said.