Hobbs, NM – The University of the Southwest Men's Soccer Team hosted the Texas College Steers in the season's first conference game for both sides. USW came into the match with a 1-3 record and off a 1-0 win over Oklahoma Panhandle State. Texas College were looking to get their first victory of the season as they came into it with a 0-4-2 record.
USW started the match with high energy and pressured the Steers in all facets of the match. They looked to get on the board early and did just that in the 12thminute of the first half with a goal from Junior Millaivy Lopez off an assist from Sophomore Angel Marban. The Mustangs got the start they wanted and looked to put on the pressure.
That would be all the scoring for the game as USW took it 1-0 and tallied a second win for the Men this week.
"The boys came out playing well. We got our identity early on and put the ball away very quickly. However, we took our foot off the gas, and unfortunately, we were not able to find the back of the net later in the game," said Coach Edgar Negrete following Thursday's victory.
USW suffocated Texas College all game and held the Steers to only three shots from beginning to end. The Mustangs also dominated the corner game with eleven to Texas College's one, which provided extra pressure by the USW offense. Defense was the name of the game, as they consistently pressured the Steer offense and prevented much of the threat in the match. Graduate Student Aaron Servin recorded his second clean sheet this week, allowing the Mustangs to ride high going into the weekend.
"I'm extremely proud of our defense and goalkeeper for keeping the clean sheet. We had a lot of good saves, and a lot of headers won on set pieces for which I was proud of the back line," said Negrete.
"We did drop off as a unit overall, but I rather win ugly than lose pretty. We will enjoy the win today, but we will turn our focus to a very good Jarvis team on Saturday. It's going to be a tough game. Jarvis has more talent this year, and we can't switch off at all on Saturday, or we can get hurt."
Men's Soccer hits the road for a Saturday game at Jarvis Christian, where they will look to make it three wins in a row. Continue to follow USW Athletics and USW Men's Soccer on all social media for scores and updates throughout the season.
