📆 Wednesday, September 18, 2024
⏰
7 pm
🏟️ Sorrels Field – Houston, Texas
📺 ESPN+
📈 LIVE STATS
📁
GAME PROGRAM
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. –
Ricardo Garcia has been tabbed the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the period ending September 15. It is his first career weekly honor and comes on the heels of his performance in leading HCU to a pair of hard-fought road draws to close out the stretch away from home. Garcia becomes the fourth different HCU player to earn weekly acclaim,
joining Ethan Giwa-McNeil, Hans Leza and Alex Aitken, who swept the OVC trio fo accolades on September 3.
Houston Christian University returns to Sorrels Field for the first time since August 29 as it hosts University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley on Wednesday evening. Fresh off four straight away from Fondren Road, the Huskies now embark on a four-match homestand that spreads over the next 18 days.
Garcia was instrumental in both matches, scoring a goal in each as the Huskies fought back from two-goal deficits in each match. For the week, the sophomore from Houston played 152 minutes and took four total shots, three on goal to account for his first two tallies of the campaign.
Against Omaha on Monday, Garcia hit a screamer in the 59th minute from the outer edge of the penalty arc to cut the Mavericks lead in half. An 84th minute penalty conversion by
D'Alessandro Herrera got the Huskies out of Nebraska with a draw.
Then in Tulsa on Saturday evening, it was Garcia's turn to hit the equalizer. A penalty score from
Ethan Giwa-McNeil cut into Oral Robert's 2-0 lead in the 73rd minute before Garcia connected on a header in the box to get the Huskies level with the Golden Eagles.
The two goals on the week match the total of his freshman season, when he had two goals and eight points, both third on the club. He played in all 18 matches as a rookie, starting 16, and has played all seven this year with five features.
Wednesday night kicks off a string of four matches at home to be played over the next 18 days as HCU and UTRGV, foes in the WAC from 2015-22, will be facing off for the 25th time. The Huskies hold a 12-9-3 advantage in the all-time series, but the Vaqueros have taken the last six meetings. The two clubs last met in 2022, when UTRGV claimed a 3-0 win in Edinburg.
Now 1-4-2 on the season, HCU thus far features a balanced offensive attack that has seen seven different players hit the back of the net.
Ethan Giwa-McNeil leads the team with three goals and is tied for second in the league. He is also fourth in the OVC in shots per game at 2.83 on the season.
Freddy Ferguson remains tied for the top spot in the OVC in assists with three to go with his one goal, while Garcia and Herrera each have two goals.
Ryan Okerayi has a goal and he and
Hans Leza have each contributed two helpers.
After missing the first two matches,
Alex Aitken is on the verge of qualifying for league leaderboards. He would lead the league in save percentage and his 4.2 saves per game would rank second in the OVC. He is currently seven saves away from tying Christopher Dodd for third place on the all-time HCU leaderboard.
The Vaqueros are 2-2-0 on the season, but have not played since a 2-1 defeat to Jacksonville University at home on September 12. UTRGV is paced by KG Sukati, who has three goals and two assists in four matches. Keaviano Francis has two goals and an assists, and Cesar Baltazar leads the squad with three assists. Keeper Fernando Carreron carries a 1.05 GAA with 20 saves in four matches.
Following the Wednesday night festivities on Fondren Road, HCU will break for 10 days prior to the OVC conference slate kicking off on September 28 when arch-rival University of Incarnate Word comes to town.
#DawgsUp
