Wolverines tally 10th win in the Lone Star State
Brad Curnow | Sports Writer | @JoJoCornrow
EDINBURG, Texas – The Utah Valley University Men’s soccer team picked up their 10th win of the season with a 1-0 victory over the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Friday night at. It took nearly two-thirds of the match, but the 23rd-ranked Utah Valley University men’s soccer team finally broke through against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley defense with a Paul Hoffmeister goal to take a 1-0 lead in the 56th minute.
The Wolverines played their usual brand of tough, defensive soccer for the remainder of the match to keep the Vaqueros off the board and seal the win.
UVU controlled the match by outshooting UTRGV by a total of 18 to 4. The persistent Wolverine attack kept defending WAC Defensive Player of the Week, UTRGV goalkeeper Leo Castillo, active on his line with nine total saves on the night.
Behind the UVU defense, goalkeeper Derek Wilcox did his part to keep UTRGV off the board with a diving save in the 58th minute of play. Wolverine goalkeepers have now played 226 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal, the last coming in the 44th minute against the Air Force Academy.
“I’m very proud of our performance tonight,” head coach Greg Maas said in a statement to WolverineGreen.com. “We were patient, disciplined, and our maturity determined the outcome of that match.”
The Wolverines put pressure on the Vaqueros’ goal all night, but the single goal was scored by Hoffmeister as he shot from the left side of the box after a steal. The goal was his fourth on the season. UTRGV’s attempt to level the match came with two shot attempts inside the final 33 minutes of play, but the Vaqueros came up empty.
With the 1-0 victory, UVU improves to 3-0-0 in WAC play and 10-2-0 overall on the season. With Seattle University’s loss to Houston Baptist Friday night, UVU earned sole possession of the top spot in the WAC standings. The Wolverines travel to Houston next to take on Houston Baptist on Sunday at noon MT.
