‘Victory brings confidence’ for men’s soccer club

The UTRGV Men’s Soccer Club emerged victorious Feb. 15 with a 3-0 win over University of The Incarnate Word, before facing Trinity University last Saturday in San Antonio.

As of press time, results were unavailable.

Soccer club president Alejandro Garcia said the team’s victory against UIW showed its hard work.

“This victory reflects the hard work that all the players have put since the beginning of the semester,” Garcia said. “Not only the players, but also the coaching staff.  The time … the hours that they have put into going to practice … we just need to keep working hard to get the next victory.”

UTRGV overcame its opponent.

“The team did great,” he said. “They were able to adapt.”

Nevertheless, Garcia said the team has some work to do.

“There has to be better communication between the players,” he said. “We need to play faster, but that would come as we keep practicing and also playing more games.”

New members, such as forward Edrei Barbosa, were able to obtain some minutes during the game against UIW.

“Since I was a kid, I’ve been playing soccer,” Barbosa said in Spanish. “So, I’m glad that this gives us a chance to keep doing what we love.”

He was inches away from scoring his first goal when the ball hit one of the goal posts.

Head Coach Hugo Zuñiga said he knows what this victory can do for the team.

“This victory brings confidence to the team,” Zuñiga said in Spanish. “It’s about trusting the process and it’s always good to start on the right foot. It gives you a good feeling and it just makes you want to keep going and do things the right way.”

He said he is looking forward to the team’s match against Texas State University at 3 p.m. Saturday on the soccer field behind the UREC in Edinburg. This will be the club’s first home game.

“We respect every university we’re playing against and Texas State is not any different,” Zuñiga said. “They also know how to play soccer. … They’re very physical. Therefore, the faster we get the ball across into their field, … we might get them into a little trouble. … It would be a good strategy to have control over the ball so they don’t have the opportunity to score.”