UHV Soccer Teams Ready to Kick Off 2018 Season

When I was in junior high school, I went out for soccer. It was a whole lot of fun, and it was great that the school I went to had a junior varsity team that played other area schools. It's a memory I'll never forget.

Fast forward to present day, and I may be too old to play organized soccer (is there a pre-geriatric league?) at least we have some great soccer we can watch, and some really good teams we can support at UHV.

After a season of being road warriors last year, the University of Houston-Victoria men’s and women’s soccer teams hope the home confines will play dividends when they open the 2018 collegiate soccer season in August.

After playing 10 of their 17 games on the road this season, the Jaguars will get a chance to enjoy their home field with 10 of their 16 games schedule for The Cage according to head coach Adrian Rigby. Players are expected to report for preseason on August 12 with their first action on Saturday, Aug. 18 with their annual Red & White games at 1 and 3 p.m. at the Cage.

The Jaguars will participate in two scrimmages before opening the regular season on September 1 on the road. The Jaguars will travel to Laredo to face Texas A&M-International in the first scrimmage on Aug. 22 with the women taking the pitch at 5 p.m. and the men at 7 p.m. UHV will wrap up the preseason hosting Schreiner University in a scrimmage on Aug. 25 with the women opening play at 2 p.m., followed by the men at 4 p.m.

The Jaguars will head to Oklahoma to open the season on Sept.1 with the women’s squad getting two early tests from ranked opponents. The UHV women will face off against Oklahoma Wesleyan, which ended the year ranked No. 13, in a 7:30 p.m. match, while the men will take on McPherson in a 5:30 p.m. match.The Jaguars the head to the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma on Sept 3 where the women will face No. 19 USAO in a 5 p.m. match, with the men taking the pitch at 7 p.m.The Jaguars then head home for six straight matches, including their Red River Athletic Conference opener.

The Jaguars will host Mid-America Christian in their home opener on Sept. 7, then host Texas Wesleyan on Sept. 9 and Oklahoma City on Sept. 15, before opening conference play on Sept. 25 against Houston St. Thomas.The Jaguars wrap up the homestand in conference matches against LSU-Shreveport and LSU-Alexandria on Sept. 27 and 29 respectively. The Jaguars will also host Texas College (Oct. 11), Jarvis Christian (Oct. 13), Texas A&M-Texarkana (Oct. 25) and Wiley College (Oct. 27) in conference play.

Other conference road games for the Jaguars include Paul Quinn (Oct. 4), University of the Southwest (Oct. 6), Huston-Tillotson (Oct. 18) and Our Lady of the Lake (Oct. 20).

The UHV men’s squad will be coming off its best season in school history after going 11-3-2 and winning the RRAC regular season and tournament titles to advance to their first NAIA National Championship tournament. The Jaguars closed out the year receiving votes in the NAIA Men’s Soccer Coaches’ Postseason Top 25 poll.The UHV women will be looking to rebound from a 4-9 season a year ago, that included a 3-7 record in the conference.

Looks like a great season ahead so, let's get out and show our support. Go Jags!