Friday night, the Vaqueros held their home opener against Purdue University Fort Wayne as they hosted the Rio Grande Valley Invitational Tournament. Unfortunately, the outcome was not what the Vaqueros expected as they suffered a 3-1 loss.
The stands were filled with enthusiastic fans celebrating the start of a new season. That enthusiasm transferred to the team, which allowed the Vaqueros to score the first goal of the night.
With just 2:36 into the game, midfielder Bryce Box put the Vaqueros up on the scoreboard. Box scored after the ball rebounded from the Mastodons goalie, Erik Tor. The Vaqueros now led the game 1-0.
Shortly after the first goal, the Mastodons attacked the Vaquero defense, successfully scoring their first goal of the night. Forward Alex Frank shot from the left side of the box right into the right corner of the net.
The game continued with a 1-1 tie until the end of the first half, even after the Vaqueros outshot the Mastodons 10-3.
Coming into the second half, the Vaqueros felt the pressure being applied by the Mastodons. The second goal for Purdue Fort Wayne came at the 70:27 mark, after the ball rebounded off a save from UTRGV goalie Andy Rios. The Mastodons now led the game 2-1.
Purdue midfielder Chris Baranowski scored the final goal of the night at the 81:51 mark to give the Mastodons a 3-1 victory.
Although the Vaqueros did not come out victorious, Head Coach Paul Leese is satisfied with several things that he saw in the team’s performance.
“Yes, we just lost the game 3-1, but there a lot of things in the game that I am very pleased about,” Leese said. “You know, we do look like a very different team than the last three years. We do have a different dynamic about us than the last three years.”
The next game for the Vaqueros will be at 1 p.m. Sunday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex against Northern Illinois University.
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