🆚 University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley
📆 Wednesday, October 21, 2026
⏰ 6:30 pm CT
🏟️ UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex – Edinburg, Texas
📺
WATCH
📈 LIVE STATS
🗒️GAME NOTES
Houston Christian University starts the second half of its season-long four-match road stretch on Wednesday when it travels back down to the Valley for the completion of the October 1st suspended match with University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. Play will resume with 23:18 remaining in the first half and the Vaqueros holding a 1-0 lead.
HCU, is led by Head Coach
Ryan Pratt, now in his 10th season at the helm. The Huskies are now 4-6-4 overall and 2-2-2 in conference play after splitting their trip to Illinois last weekend. HCU raced past Western Illinois 3-0 on Thursday before dropping a 3-1 decision in a Sunday matinee at Eastern Illinois.
On Sunday the Huskies fell behind after 45 minutes following two EIU goals 20 minutes apart. The Panthers opened the scoring in the 25th minute when Sergej Misic won possession and blasted a shot from the right side of the box across the face of
Harvey Heeps.
A second goal came just short of the intermission when Marcos Ayelo claimed a rebound off the post to double the advantage. EIU would score another in the 71st minute when a corner was clattered home as an own goal. HCU finally got on the board in the 80th minute on when
Ryan Okerayi was clipped in the box. He slotted home his shot from the spot to make the count 3-1.
The Huskies got up 14 shots on the day but just two came on target, while the hosts went for 15 attempts, putting eight on point. Okerayi notched his fourth goal of the season with his penalty kick, the 25th goal of his career at HCU.
Harvey Heeps made five saves.
This Huskies, coming off a back-to-back runner-up finishes in the league, currently sit in fifth place in the league with eight points with the game in hand against UTRGV yet to be completed. Defending champion Lindenwood dropped from the top spot in the table after falling to Southern Indiana on Sunday, allowing SIUE and UIW to jump to the head of the line, each with 13 points.
Through 14 matches,
Ryan Okerayi leads the club with four goals and five assists. He is tied for first in the conference in assists, is eighth in goals and ranks third in total points. His assist versus WIU moved him into a tie for sixth place all-time in that category and his goal against Eastern Illinios on Sunday was the 25th of his career. He is one of just seven players in school history with 20 or more goals.
Marcos Moore is second on the club in goals with three while
Callum Niven and Aiden Lopez each have a pair of goals.
Clarenns Sainrimat,
Leo Makatta and
Nico Kross chip in a goal apiece.
Senior defender
Hans Leza, a mainstay on the backline for HCU for four seasons, passed the 5,000 minutes-played mark for his career and now sits just 49 minutes short of third place all-time with 5,340 minutes. His start against Eastern Illinois gave him 65 career appearances for the Huskies with 63 starts, moving him into the Top 10 all-time in each category.
Harvey Heeps has been solid in his debut season in the pipes after taking over from OVC Goalkeeper of the Year
Alex Aitken. The redshirt freshman has 45 saves through 13 matches, including a career-high nine against then No. 5 and now No. 1 SMU. He has been named Keeper of the Week twice and has three clean sheets on the season. He ranks first in the OVC in saves (50), second in saves per game (3.46) and goals against (1.55) and third in save percentage (.692).
The match with UTRGV is the completion of the October 1 suspended match, and is the third straight on the road for the Huskies. Play resumes on Wednesday evening with 23:18 remaining in the first half and the Vaqueros ahead 1-0.
HCU and UTRGV were foes in the WAC for eight years before the Huskies joined the OVC for its inaugural foray into men's soccer in 2023. This match is the 27th all-time meeting, the most played series in HCU program history.
The Huskies lead the Vaqueros 14-9-3 in a series that dates all the way back to 1979. The two teams didn't play in 2023 with the series reconvening in 2024.
HCU took the last two matchups in highly dramatic fashion, both 1-0 wins secured by three-time All-OVC forward
Ryan Okerayi. His steal and smash in the 78th minute gave the Huskies a win in Houston in 2024, and he followed that up with an 88th minute penalty kick last season to steal one at the death in Edinburg.
Bryheem Hancock is now in his sixth season at the helm of the Vaqueros, who are 3-5-3 overall and 1-3-2 in conference play. UTRGV picked up its first-ever OVC win on Thursday as it scored four times in the second half to erase a 2-0 halftime deficit and defeat Southern Indiana 4-3. The Vaqueros lost their most recent outing on Sunday, a 3-0 setback at SIUE.
On offense, the Vaqueros are led by senior midfielder Mouhamed Pouye and junior forward Elias Taj, each of whom have four goals and two assists. Senior midfielder Malang Mandiang leads UTRGV with four assists.
UTRGV puts sophomore Conrad Knight between the posts. He has started 10 matches and allowed 16 goals with 27 saves, posting a 2-4-3 mark with two shutouts.
Following the match down south, the Huskies will prepare for the final stop on the four-match road stretch this coming Sunday in the Alamo City against arch-rival University of the Incarnate Word. The match was originally scheduled for Friday, October 23, but moved to accommodate the finishing of the UTRGV suspended fixture.
#DawgsUp
