UTRGV Men’s Soccer Is Unbeaten — And This Start Feels Different

By Diamond DITV | Fan Perspective

It’s only two games. We know.

But there’s already something interesting happening with UTRGV men’s soccer.

The Vaqueros are 1-0-1 to start the 2026 season, and the record might not even be the most encouraging part. It’s how they’ve gotten there.

UTRGV has fallen behind three times.

UTRGV has answered three times.

That’s not a bad identity to start building for a team with 16 newcomers and only nine returners.

The Vaqueros opened with a 3-2 road win over West Florida, rallying from deficits of 1-0 and 2-1.

Mouhamed Pouye scored the first equalizer, newcomer Emmanuel Gore Bi tied it again in the second half, and Malang Mandiang delivered the winner in the 79th minute off an assist from Sammy Jadid.

West Florida deserves some context, too. The Argonauts may be new to Division I, but they won their conference tournament and reached the NCAA Division II Tournament last season.

Then came Stetson.

The Hatters, picked second in the ASUN preseason poll, broke a scoreless match in the 81st minute.

UTRGV was staring at its first loss of the season.

Once again, the Vaqueros answered.

Jadid scored the equalizer with just over two minutes remaining to earn UTRGV a 1-1 draw.

Diamond Spotlight: Sammy Jadid

Two games. Two big moments.

The sophomore transfer from Wright State assisted on Mandiang’s game-winner against West Florida and scored the late equalizer against Stetson.

For a team trying to blend 16 newcomers into the roster, finding someone who already looks comfortable in big moments is a pretty good start.

Keep an eye on No. 8.

Diamond Spotlight: Mouhamed Pouye

The other name shouldn’t be a surprise.

Pouye entered the season as a team captain and UTRGV’s OVC Preseason Player to Watch. Through two matches, the senior already has a goal and an assist.

More importantly, he’s one of the veterans being asked to help hold together a roster filled with new faces.

How quickly that happens could go a long way toward determining what kind of season UTRGV has.

Because while 1-0-1 is encouraging, the numbers behind it might be even more interesting.

Through its first two matches last season, UTRGV was 0-2, had been outscored 6-0 and produced 12 shots with four on goal.

This year?

Four goals. Twenty-three shots. Thirteen on goal. No losses.

That’s a significant change for a program that scored only 11 goals in 10 matches all of last season.

There is another side to it.

UTRGV has already allowed three goals and has spent too much time chasing games. Coming from behind is great. Needing to continually come from behind isn’t.

And with a rebuilt roster preparing for its first season in the Ohio Valley Conference, there are going to be growing pains.

UTRGV was picked fifth in the OVC preseason poll. Six teams make the conference tournament.

Right now, we have no idea whether fifth is too high, too low or exactly where this team belongs.

But we’re interested in finding out.

The Diamond DITV956 Final Word

Two matches aren’t enough to tell us how good UTRGV is.

They are enough to tell us this team has our attention.

The Vaqueros are creating more chances, scoring more goals and have already shown an ability to respond when things go wrong. Now comes the harder part: turning those flashes into something they can sustain.

The comeback mentality is fun.

Eventually, we’d like to see UTRGV be the team everyone else is trying to come back against.

For now?

1-0-1. Unbeaten. And a whole lot more interesting than this team looked two matches into last season.

We’ll take it.