The USW men's soccer team dropped their regular season Opener to a receiving votes Ottawa (AZ) team 2-0 on Thursday night in Surprise, Arizona. The Mustangs played well defensively but were unable to get anything going offensively. The Mustangs were missing two key players in Dan Moreno and Matthew Alvarado for the contest due to red cards received in the final game of last year. Moreno is a senior defender and Alvarado was the RRAC Offensive Player of the Year last year and notched 8 goals in his 7 games played. 
 
Coach Edgar Negrete had this to say about the performance "Even though we didn't get the result we wanted we played a very tough Ottawa team that is receiving votes at the moment. I saw a lot of positive things in this game that we can use going forward. We had a penalty and a mistake that cost us. The boys played great, we just couldn't connect in that last final third. I am extremely proud of how we played and like I told the players that this trip was going to be a tough one. Of course, the goal is to win however the boys have nothing to hold their heads down we went toe to toe with a great team and we showed that we were able to play with them. We should be proud that we are out here competing with a top program. As a coach, I'm extremely proud of my team's effort. We dominated the first half no question and the second half after they received the PK, we lost our momentum. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and move forward. Now we will head to Embry Riddle which will be another tough game and try to do everything possible to go 1-1 on the road."
 
A couple of players stood out in the loss Thursday night, Senior Diego Vazquez and Sophomore goalkeeper Armando Pando. Coach Negrete had this to say about Diego's performance, "Diego played a huge part in our team in last night's game. Everything that the coaching staff asked, he delivered. He showed great leadership and had an outstanding game. This is by far the best I have seen Diego since I've been here at USW." Pando faced 8 shots on goal, recording 6 saves and 2 goals allowed. Coach Negrete had this to say about Pando's performance "He made a lot of huge saves for us that kept us in the game for the longest time.  He made some huge 1v1 saves that kept us alive and kept the game close. He had a top performance and the two goals that he conceded were a penalty kick and a breakaway mistake on our end." 
 
The Mustangs will be back in action against Embry Riddle in Prescott, Arizona on Saturday.