A brilliant goal early in the second half by Gustavo Barosso gave the Falcons the lead in Thursday night's season opener for the UT Permian Basin men's soccer squad. However, an 88^th-minute equalizer led to a1-1 draw in Odessa in the debut of head coach Victor Domingues against Fort Lewis.
           
Thursday's showdown at the UTPB Soccer Field was a tight one throughout. A pair of stingy defenses shined in the first half and the two sides entered the locker rooms deadlocked with no score.
           
However, UTPB was able to find the scoreboard early in the second half. After great passes from Emiliano Cardona and Sergio Gonzalez, Barroso drained an open shot to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead. Although Domingues' team held onto the slim advantage for over 35 minutes of game-time, Fort Lewis scored in the 88^th minute to tie things up. UT Permian Basin's offense was aggressive in the final minute but simply ran out of time and ended up playing to a 1-1 draw against the Skyhawks.
           
Barroso, a senior from Sao Paulo, Brazil, converted UTPB's only shot-on-goal of the contest. Gonzalez and Cardona added assists in the season opener as well. Javi Torres started in the net for the Falcons and finished with three saves. UT Permian Basin out-shot the Skyhawks 15-9, but Fort Lewis held a 4-1 advantage in shots-on-goal.
           
The Falcons will play their second home match of 2022 on Saturday afternoon in Odessa. Adams State will travel south for an early-season non-conference affair at the UTPB Soccer Field, and kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Download the UTPB Athletics App to follow the team all season long.