{"id":3563,"date":"2021-02-02T16:17:20","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T22:17:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/?p=3563"},"modified":"2021-02-02T16:17:24","modified_gmt":"2021-02-02T22:17:24","slug":"utrgv-mens-soccer-kicking-back-into-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/02\/utrgv-mens-soccer-kicking-back-into-season\/","title":{"rendered":"UTRGV men\u2019s soccer kicking back into season"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Sophomore defensive midfielder Issac Ochoa and freshman defender Javier Chavez during practice at The UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex. The Vaquero are set to kick-off their season 8 p.m. Saturday on the road against Seattle U. COURTESY PHOTO\/UTRGV ATHLETICS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

UTRGV men\u2019s soccer is set to kick off their 2021 spring season at 8 p.m. Saturday on the road versus the defending WAC champions, Seattle U. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the Vaqueros have not had an official match since a 0-1 defeat to Incarnate Word in the 2019 season finale, back on Nov. 9, 2019, they were able to play two closed-door exhibition games versus Texas A&M International University and St. Mary\u2019s Wednesday and Sunday, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a weekly news conference via Zoom, first-year UTRGV Head Coach Bryheem Hancock explained how the exhibition games provided clarity on the starting lineup as the season is a few days away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of things that I had questions on I feel like now we answered and now it\u2019ll be more about our focus of how we prep for our actual opponent now this regular season,” Hancock says. \u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Redhawks boast a talented squad that includes WAC preseason offensive POTY, senior forward, Noe Meza and WAC preseason DPOY, senior defender, Alex Acton-Petronotis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTRGV senior forward William Akio was selected to the preseason all-WAC team alongside Redhawks\u2019 junior goalkeeper Akili Kasim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seattle U also ranked first in the WAC preseason c<\/strong><\/a>oaches\u2019 pol<\/a><\/strong>l<\/strong><\/a> while UTRGV was selected to finish 8th out of 11 teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hancock said he is using the team\u2019s preseason poll ranking to motivate his squad as they head into their weekend matchup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI said it to the guys, \u2018it is no hidden secret, just look where the coaches put us in the league, they have us eight out of eleven teams\u2019 Obviously, we don\u2019t have the respect that we want so we have to earn it,” he says. “That\u2019s going to be every time we show up, we have to be ready to compete and get results.\u201d\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When asked which individual players could help his team secure a victory versus Seattle U, Hancock instead highlighted his defensive unit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the cohesion of the group from the backline \u2013 I say a lot of time you got to form as one\u2026 — and I\u2019ve think they\u2019ve done that through preseason,” Hancock says.\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

With an attacking group that includes returners with the likes of Akio, sophomores Juan Rivera and Martin Tellez, junior Jan Engels and senior Nicolas Blake and veteran newcomers such as juniors Ricardo Turcis, Reshaun Walkes, Moaid Ankir and Alex Frank, Hancock expects their experience to stand out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn our attack we have guys that have been here two or three years,” Hancock says, “have played a lot of soccer matches, have done really well at the Division I level and I expect them on Saturday to go out and show that influence on the match.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Vaqueros will be looking for their first victory over the Redhawks as they have an 0-4-1 all-time record dating back to 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0You can watch the match live on the WAC Digital Network at wacdigitalnetwork.com<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twitter: @Radio_Rubio<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UTRGV men\u2019s soccer is set to kick off their 2021 spring season at 8 p.m. Saturday on the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3565,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,54,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-radio","category-soccer","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nUTRGV men\u2019s soccer kicking back into season - The Valley's Student Station<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/utrgvradio.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/02\/utrgv-mens-soccer-kicking-back-into-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UTRGV men\u2019s soccer kicking back into season - 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