Scorpions wrap up third straight RRAC crown

The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College men’s soccer team defeated Northwood University 5-1 on Saturday afternoon at REC Center Field to claim the Red River Athletic Conference regular-season title for the third straight season.

In the second game Saturday, the UTB-TSC women saw their six-game winning streak come to an end in a 2-0 loss to Northwood that gave the Knights the RRAC regular-season championship. The Scorpions women finished as conference regular-season runners-up.

The UTB-TSC men (14-0-1, 8-0 RRAC), ranked No. 15 in the latest NAIA poll, came alive to score four goals in the first half after spotting Northwood a 1-0 lead just six minutes into the match. After that, it was all Scorpions for the rest of the opening 45 minutes.

"It feels great to repeat as (regular-season) champions," said Rogelio Perez, a former Porter standout and a junior midfielder for UTB-TSC who has been a member of the squad all three years of its existence. "I’m happy not only for my teamates, but also for all the people who are supporting us in the Valley. I just want to congratulate my teammates for doing a good job. We want to continue strong as a team and keep winning."

Ranger Parrish’s header gave Northwood a 1-0 edge, but it didn’t last long as less than 10 seconds later Juan Nava scored for UTB-TSC to provide the equalizer.

Evans Frimpong, Aaron Guerrero and Mario Perez, Rogelio’s younger brother and also a former Porter standout, each added a goal as the Scorpions surged to a 4-1 lead by intermission.

"I think it was the best first half we’ve played all season," UTB-TSC men’s coach Dan Balaguero said. "We could have actually scored more in the first half. We could have had seven or eight goals. We’ve had trouble breaking down teams in the first half in our other conference games, so it was nice to have a big first half today."

With 2 1/2 minutes remaining, Enrique "Chicle" Rivera, a former Lopez standout, launched a lob shot that came in high on an arc and landed in the back of the net to complete the 5-1 victory.

The Scorpions finished with 10 shots on goal, while Northwood (8-7-2, 5-3) had three. UTB-TSC goalkeeper Juan Gamboa only had to make two saves.

The UTB-TSC men now enter next weekend’s RRAC Tournament in Forth Worth as the top seed. They play their final home game of the season at 7 p.m. Monday against Texas A&M International of Laredo, a non-conference opponent.

Meanwhile, the women’s match was a high-intensity game that went down to the last part of the second half. Natalie Carter gave Northwood (11-4, 8-0) a 1-0 lead with 13:42 remaining by scoring from close range in a one-on-one matchup with the goalkeeper. With 2:57 left, teammate Helena Melin made it 2-0.

The UTB-TSC women (9-4-2, 6-1-1) had several opportunities, but just couldn’t convert. The Scorpions will be the No. 2 seed in next weekend’s RRAC Tournament, while the Northwood women will be the No. 1 seed.

"It’s not the end of the world for us," UTB-TSC women’s coach Nikola "Nik" Barjaktarevic said. "We’ll be smarter after this loss and move on. I still believe in this team. We have a very strong squad, and hopefully, we’ll meet Northwood or whoever it might be in the finals of the conference tournament in another week.

"We have the team to win the conference tournament and get to nationals," he added. "We just have to play hard to make it happen."

Roy Hess writes for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him via e-mail at rhess@brownsvilleherald.com.