Box Score BEAUMONT, Texas – Freshman Marina Mielgo netted a goal in the 69^th minute and it would prove to be the game winner as Lamar University defeated UT Rio Grande Valley, 2-0, Saturday evening at the LU Soccer Complex. Big Red improves to 6-6-1 on the year and 3-1-1 in Western Athletic Conference play.
 
Senior Hollie Massey, who assisted on the first goal, tacked on a second in the 69^th minute for the game's final score.
 
"This was a competitive game from start to finish and that is what we expected," said LU head coach Steve Holeman. "Our defense did extremely well and they were put to the test early. Clean sheets in this league are hard to come by – UTRGV had some dangerous chances and so did we. We did well to finish the chances we had. This is a big win for us."
 
The Vaqueros outshot LU, 16-10, with a 9-4 advantage on goal, but junior goalkeeper Nicole Panis was up to the task for the Red and White posting eight saves.
 
Sixteen fouls were called on the night with eight being charged to each team, including a yellow card assessed to UTRGV.  Both teams finished with five corner kicks as well.
 
Saturday's victory was key as LU will now hit the road for their next three games, and not return to Golden Triangle until the end of the month.
 
"Coming into tonight we only had three home games remaining so we wanted to take care of business while we're at home," said Holeman. "It's going to be tough because the last three opponents we played, we now have to turn around and play them on the road. That is never an easy thing to do. Experience will tell you its tough to beat a conference opponent once, it's even more difficult to beat them twice."