ODESSA, Texas (September 17, 2025) – After an undefeated nonconference portion of its 2025 season, The University of Texas Permian Basin women's soccer team started off its Lone Star Conference schedule on the wrong foot with a hard-fought 1-0 loss at home against The University of Texas at Tyler on Wednesday night.

In addition to being the Falcons' first conference match of the season, it was the first conference match for UTPB (1-1-1 overall, 0-1-0 LSC) under the direction of Head Coach Garrett Kull, and it was a big improvement for the Falcons after a 4-0 defeat at UT Tyler (4-0-0, 1-0-0) last season.

Last season saw the Patriots post a 10-4-3 record, their best year in the NCAA Division II era. They began the year with five straight victories and played to a 5-4-3 LSC record.

It was a scoreless first half as Valeria Delgado made a save on all three shot attempts by the Patriots in the opening period, each of which came in the first 15 minutes of the match. Meanwhile, the only two shot attempts of the first half for the Falcons, each of which came in the first 18 minutes of the match, came on a pair of blocked attempts by Cassandra Ramirez, who was coming off a two-goal performance last time out.

The best of Delgado's three saves in the first half came in the 15th minute when a free kick for UT Tyler's Brooke Mullins just outside the top of the box was sent around the wall of Falcon defenders and resulted in a diving safe to her left into the arms of Delgado.

UTPB's best chance to get on the scoreboard and break a scoreless tie came in the 59th minute when a corner kick by Ramirez found its way to Andrea Garcia, whose shot attempt was just saved by UT Tyler goalkeeper Robbi Curry.

However, just over eight minutes later, a cross by Melissa Oliveira was just deflected by Delgado, but the ball rolled straight out to junior forward Taylor Thibodeau, who delivered the game-winner into the top-right corner of the goal.

In all, Delgado made three saves in each half and kept UT Tyler from adding to its lead in the 83rd minute when she had to make a save right in front of the goal on a shot by Ava Harris.

Coach Kull said, "What a great game tonight. That was a back-and-forth game that felt like it was on a knife's edge all night. I'm so proud of how this team battled. Unfortunately for us it was a night where we didn't finish the ball in the net and we gave them a good opportunity that they took."

After just a 3-2 shot advantage in the first half, UT Tyler outshot UTPB 9-4 in the second half and finished with a 7-2 advantage on shots on goal.

Despite the loss, UTPB was able to limit UT Tyler's two returning all-conference players from a year ago, Natalie Jones and Brooke Mullins, to just one combined shot attempt.

Speaking on the defensive effort, Coach Kull said, "I thought Ella Bertram and Sarah Williams at center back tonight did a good job for us. They handled a lot of pressure defensively and helped us play out of some situations offensively. Their effort won't show up on the stats, but they did really well to limit the chances from an explosive attack."

Next up, after three straight home matches to open the schedule, the Falcons will play on the road for the first time this season. UTPB travels to face Eastern New Mexico University at 3 p.m. Central Time / 2 p.m. Mountain Time on Saturday, September 20. ENMU is 0-3 on the season and has been outscored 9-0.