Vaqueros hold for 1-0 win vs. Southern
The UTRGV Women’s Soccer Team won its first match of the season 1-0 tonight against the Southern University and A&M College Jaguars at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex on the Edinburg campus.
The Vaqueros, with the win, stand at 1-2-1 for the year, while the Jaguars drop to 0-5-0 with a loss.
Sophomore midfielder Linnea Eld netted the decisive goal of the match on a lengthy buildup play in the 56th minute. She was assisted by senior midfielder Sam Maudsley.
While the Vaqueros created several chances and put six shots on goal, five of those were saved by Jaguars senior keeper Sydney Bellamy.
UTRGV Women’s Soccer head coach Mark Foster was “delighted” that his team’s aggressiveness on offense paid off, but was also impressed by his squad’s resilience on defense.
“They need to get rewards at some stage, and they got their rewards,” Foster said. “It was a good performance and a deserved win. The only little thing for me is it should’ve been two or three.”
Eld, who scored the match-winner after previously missing a free kick, said it was a “relief” to see the Vaqueros’ pressure paying off.
“I felt like we had the game,” Eld said. “We were playing really good, like the majority of the game we had a lot of the ball. We were just missing the finishing part.”
From the opening whistle, the Vaqueros began by attacking the box with creative play. Southern played aggressively on defense, with Jaguars sophomore defender Elon Stinson being booked in the sixth minute.
The persistence of UTRGV’s attack still yielded no results, as a seventh-minute shot by senior defender Libby Beilfuss hit the post and was recovered by Bellamy.
The physicality continued, and both teams created opportunities to net the opener. UTRGV created most of these chances, with Southern maintaining a hold on the Vaqueros attack while creating a few of its own.
Toward the end of the first half, the referee didn’t call what those in attendance thought was a penalty as the Vaqueros attacked the box, keeping it as a scoreless affair 0-0.
The second half began with the Vaqueros maintaining their persistence on attack with the back line of the Jaguars maintaining their hold on the tie.
After Eld missed an opportunity to score on a free kick earlier in the half, she found a pass from Maudsley and sent it to the back of the net in the 56th minute, making it 1-0 Vaqueros.
Both squads created opportunities to score and both defenses held serve. In the 83rd minute, Bellamy made an incredible jumping save to deny Eld a brace. The match ended in a 1-0 victory for UTRGV.
The Vaqueros will remain at home for their next match, taking on Howard Payne University at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 6. Admission is free.
Freshman forward Lisa Elowsson and Jaguar junior defender Zemira Webb fight for possession of the ball during tonight's game against Southern University and A&M College at the Soccer and Track & Field Complex on the Edinburg campus. The Vaqueros won 1-0. Abigail Ollave/THE RIDER
