🆚 University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
📆 Sunday – November 1, 2026
⏰ 1 pm CT
🏟️ Sorrels Field - Houston, Texas
📺
WATCH
📈 LIVE STATS
🗒️ GAME NOTES
Houston Christian University closes out the regular season schedule on Sunday with a "Senior Day" matinee against long-time foe University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 pm as the opener of a doubleheader with the HCU women, who host Lamar University at 4 pm.
Head Coach
Ryan Pratt, now in his 10th season at the helm has the Huskies at 5-7-5 overall and 3-3-3 in conference after dropping a tough 2-0 decision to defending OVC champion Lindenwood University on Thursday night at Sorrels Field. With just over 20 minutes to go, the Lions scored two goals in just under a moment's time to stun the Huskies in the penultimate home match of the season.
The Huskies, coming off a back-to-back runner-up finishes in the league, currently sit in fourth place in the league with 12 points, two points off third place UIW. Lindenwood moved into first place in the league with their win earning one of the two first-round tournament byes along with SIUE.
Through 17 matches,
Ryan Okerayi continues to pace the club with four goals and six assists. He is tied for first in the conference in assists, and is tied for ninth in both goals and is sixth in points (14). His assist versus Incarnate Word moved him into a tie for fifth place all-time in that category while his goal against Eastern Illinois two weeks ago was the 25th of his career. He is one of just seven players in school history with 20 or more goals.
Clarenns Sainrimat, who was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week following three goals in two matches last week, and
Marcos Moore are now tied with Okerayi for the team lead in goals.
Callum Niven and Aiden Lopez each have a pair of goals.
Defensive leader
Nico Kross returned to the pitch the past two games after sitting out since October 4. He subbed on at the half at UIW with immediate impact, helping the Huskies hold the Cardinals scoreless on just four total shots, then proceeded to go the distance against Lindenwood on Thursday, his 25th full-time performance in 32 career matches with HCU.
Hans Leza and
Ricardo Garcia have continued to be mainstays on the pitch for HCU. Leza now sits fourth all-time at HCU in minutes played with 5,684 while Garcia has moved up to eighth-place all-time with 5,189. Leza has now played in 68 career matches for the Huskies with 66 starts, moving him into the Top 10 all-time in each category and for his career has been on the pitch from start to finish 50 times.
Garcia has now played in 73 matches for the Huskies, which puts him in third place all-time, just two places away from the top spot on the career leaderboard.
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 57 saves through 17 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, second in saves per game (3.35) and shutouts (3), and third in goals against (1.7) and save percentage (.663).
HCU hosts long-time foe UTRGV for the final match of the regular season, a "Senior Day" Sunday matinee at Sorrels Field. It is the second time for the two teams to meet in a matter of 11 days, and third time seeing each other in the past month.
The Huskies and Vaqueros tied their first meeting of the season in Edinburg, a match started on October 1 and finished on October 21 after weather suspended play. UTRGV held a 1-0 lead when play resumed, but HCU leveled things just before the half on a
Ricardo Garcia score. Sammy Jadid's goal six minutes into the second frame gave the hosts the lead back at 2-1.
Clarenns Sainrimat then scored his second goal of the season in the 73rd minute to equalize, leaving the two teams to a 2-2 draw.
Following that result, the Huskies now leads the Vaqueros 14-9-4 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. The two schools 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 28th all-time meeting, the most played series in HCU program history.
Both teams are still looking to secure their spot in the postseason. HCU sits in fourth place with 12 points, while UTRGV is in a four-way tie for fifth at 10 points. Defending champ Lindenwood and SIUE have already locked up the top two seeds and byes in the first round, while UIW is also locked into the field, leaving five other teams in the hunt for the three remaining spots in the OVC Tournament, being hosted for a second straight season at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri.
Bryheem Hancock is now in his sixth season at the helm of the Vaqueros, who are 4-5-5 overall and 2-3-4 in conference action. UTRGV is currently tied with Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois and Southern Indiana. Southern Indiana and Western Illinois play each other on Sunday, while Eastern Illinois heads to SIUE.
On offense, the Vaqueros are led by junior forward Elias Taj, who has six goals and three assists on the year. Senior midfielder Mouhamed Pouye has four goals while senior midfielder Malang Mandiang leads UTRGV with four assists.
UTRGV puts sophomore Conrad Knight between the posts. He has played in 13 matches with 36 saves for a 2.77 average, both third in the league. He allows just 1.52 goals per, which is second in the conference.
The Huskies will honor six outgoing senior athletes before the Sunday matinee in
Ryan Okerayi,
Hans Leza,
Ricardo Garcia,
Cezar Onut,
Nana Obeng and
Nico Kross. The game opens up a doubleheader with the HCU women, who take on Southland Conference leaders Lamar University at 4 pm.
#DawgsUp
