VICTORIA, TX---The Lady Mustangs kicked off their 2021 RRAC spring schedule on Thursday afternoon without Head Coach D'Angelo Garcia on the sideline. Coach Garcia and wife Haley are expecting their first child very soon, so Garcia stayed back in Hobbs to be with his wife. Assistant Coach Shania Maddux filled in as Interim Head Coach and kept the Lady Mustangs rolling, as they defeated the UHV Lady Jaguars 5-3. 

"Going into the game, the girls were super hyped knowing that this was the start of conference play, but there was also some nerves" said Interim Head Coach Shania Maddux. 

The Lady Mustangs saw themselves down 3-1 heading toward the end of the first half, but senior Corina Ortiz netted a goal in the 44th minute to cut the deficit to 3-2 as they headed to halftime. "We were really struggling with our normal starting line-up today so I thought it would be good to mix it up and add some new girls into the mix. Corina Ortiz stepped up for us in a huge way. Briana Brock also moved to the left outside back position where she did a great job of playing tough defense. After making these changes, we were able to find the back of the net" said Maddux. 

UHV scored an own goal in the 53nd minute which tied up the game. Senior Lauren Zarate then scored in the 63rd minute to give the Lady Mustangs their first lead of the match. Freshman Maya Sanchez would add on another goal 30 seconds later to give USW an insurance goal for the final 25 minutes of play.  Overall the Lady Mustangs took 17 shots with 13 landing on goal. "Our offense was successful today because of the confidence everyone was playing with. Once we started playing our own game, we were able to pass the ball at will and it was beautiful soccer to watch. All the great passes gave our scorers amazing opportunities" said Maddux on the offensive output today. 

USW will take on Our Lady of the Lake University on Saturday afternoon. OLLU is currently receiving Top 25 votes in the latest NAIA Coaches poll, so this will be a great early season test for the Lady Mustangs in conference. "We are very excited for OLLU on Saturday. We have some adjustments to make that will help us out, but as always, we will tell the girls to have a good mentality. This will be the deciding factor of who wins the match. It's going to be a tough game, but I have all the confidence in this group of girls" said Maddux on their upcoming matchup with rival OLLU.