Men’s and women’s soccer kick off season

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Men’s and Women’s Soccer Teams are back for the start of Fall 2019. The bar is set high for both teams after last year’s history-making season.

Last fall, the UTRGV Women’s Soccer Team recorded its best regular season in program history by finishing second in the Western Athletic Conference standings. The team set a new program record of 12 victories, including a 2-1 win over the University of Miami. 

UTRGV continued making history when it defeated California State University at Bakersfield and obtained its first-ever WAC Tournament win.

As the new season kicks off, UTRGV is aiming to make even more history.

“We just want to continue being a dominant force in the WAC,” said Head Coach Glad Bugariu. “We finished in the top three last two years. We want to continue on that path and obviously win as many games as possible.”

This season, UTRGV will rely on a heavily veteran team. Returning players include seniors goalie Kinga Szemik; forwards Sarah Bonney, Amanda Lozano; midfielders Lea Kalmbach, Diana Ansah and defender Katherine Stokely.

Returning juniors are midfielders Gina Steiner, Matilyn Hepker and defender Tina Nielson.

Szemik finished fifth in the WAC saves with 72. She was also named to the All-WAC First Team and earned All-WAC Tournament Team honors.

She was called to play with the Polish National Soccer Team on several occasions and said she uses that experience at UTRGV.

“I have to say that every time I go there it’s like a big experience to me,” Szemik said. “For me it is a huge honor. I always try to gain as much as I can from this type of experience because those are the best players from my country. Every time I go there, as I said, I try to gain as much as I can to come back here and, hopefully, help my other teammates to push the program forward.”

Bonney finished second on the team in points with 16 goals, seven assists and 49 shots on goal and received All-WAC Second Team.

UTRGV is returning a large sophomore class of eight players, which is composed of goalie Maile Lunardi; midfielders Kaitie Watson, Elina Seppälä, Anna Barkey and Emily Zapata; defender Kryssie Rivera; and forwards Shentatious Knox and Isabella Marinaro.

As a freshman, Zapata led the team in points with 23 goals, 77 shots, 32 shots on goal and five game-winning goals. She tied for the most goals in the WAC and was ranked 91 among the Top 100 Freshmen in the country by Top Drawer Soccer. Zapata finished the season by earning All-WAC First Team.

Newcomers to the program are freshmen midfielders Melissa Balachorek, Anna Torslov and Maya Chitman, forward Anna Olmala, and defenders Miranda Muñoz, Marcy Garza and Delaney Carrell.

The WAC head coaches voted Bonney, Szemik and Zapata to the 2019 Preseason All-Western Athletic Conference Team. Overall, UTRGV was selected to finish third in the Preseason Women’s Soccer Coaches Poll.

UTRGV will face Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi as part of the South Texas Showdown at 7 p.m. Friday in Corpus Christi and the University of Texas at El Paso at 1 p.m. Sunday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

The history making continued at the UTRGV Men’s Soccer Team. Last season, UTRGV won 14 matches and went 8-3 in the WAC, making it the most victories and conference wins in Division I program history.

UTRGV finished second in the regular season WAC standings and moved on to the WAC tournament, where the Vaqueros won its first-ever WAC Tournament match against the University of Nevada Las Vegas (4-1).

With a loaded returning class, UTRGV is looking to create more opportunities with an experienced team, said Head Coach Paul Leese.

“What makes me feel really excited about this group is that we are going into the fifth season, now, of the programs’ existence and we’ve got a really good group of core returners who are now mature juniors and seniors,” Leese said. “They’ve been with me for a number of years. They understand how we play. They understand my expectations, and they have actually developed some leadership of their own.”

One of UTRGV’s main goals is to win a championship, said senior midfielder Arthur Rogers.

“I want us to be a championship-winning team,” Rogers said. “I think this is the year where we can really push to win that title.”

Seniors leading the team are seniors goalie Andy Rios; midfielders Noe Ochoa, Rogers, Angel Lopez, and Dimitris Strantzalis; forwards Kyle Edwards, William Akio and Sergio Loredo; defenders Michael Faber and Damian Magallan.

Returning juniors are defender Guillermo Martinez and midfielder Bryce Box. Sophomores are goalie Trevor Schneider; forwards Jonathan Gutierrez, Oscar Huerta; midfielder Jaime Arcila and defender Luis Rubio.

Last fall, Rios played a key role in the Vaqueros success as he finished with 60 saves, which ranked him fourth in program history.

“I felt that I ended the season really well last season,” Rios said. “I felt that I brought that in through the whole summer, so I feel really well prepared to be extremely consistent this season and help the team out.”

Rios also received All-WAC Honorable Mention along with teammates Box, Martinez and Rogers.

On the offensive side, the team is looking for the experience of Edwards and Akio to lead. Edwards led the team with 14 goals, 33 points, 64 shots and 29 shots on goal. Edwards was also named to the All-WAC First Team and to the 2018 WAC Men’s Soccer All-Tournament Team.

Edwards was then named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region First Team and was added to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List. This award is the most prestigious individual award in college soccer and is presented annually to the most outstanding male player of the year, according to machermanntrophy.org.

Akio finished the season with 10 assists and five goals, which tied him for the most assists in a single season in Division I program history. He finished second in the WAC in assists, assists per game and game-winning goals.

He was also named to the All-WAC Second Team, First Touch Football All-Canadian Second Team and received Male Newcomer of the Year at the UTRGV Student-Athlete awards.

The program is welcoming a large incoming class and a new assistant coach who is no stranger to the team. Archie Massen has been promoted from a graduate assistant coach to assistant coach. Massen spent three seasons in his previous position. He played three seasons at legacy institution University of Texas at Brownsville and wrapped up his collegiate career in 2015
with UTRGV.