ODESSA, Texas (September 4, 2025) – The University of Texas Permian Basin women's soccer team got the Garrett Kull era started off with a competitive match against Colorado State University Pueblo from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. In the end, the Falcons settled for a 0-0 tie against the ThunderWolves on Thursday night at the UTPB Soccer Field.

It was the first meeting between UTPB (0-0-1) and CSUP (0-0-1) since 2011, and it was the Falcons' first positive result against the ThunderWolves after losing the first two matchups between the two teams.

Coach Kull was able to play 16 players in the season opener, including playing 10 newcomers and starting five freshmen.

Coach Kull spoke about his team's season opener and said, "I was really happy with the team's performance tonight. I think whenever you can keep a team off the scoresheet, that's always a promising way for a team to start the season. We had a mix of experience and freshmen play tonight, and we had great leadership in helping them settle into the match."

UTPB had eight of the first 12 shot attempts of the match before being outshot 7-2 over the final 19 minutes.

The ThunderWolves would finish with an 11-10 shot advantage overall, and outshot the Falcons 4-1 on shots on goal. The Falcons, however, held a 4-1 advantage on saves and had a big 9-2 edge on corner kicks. Valeria Delgado (4 saves) and Alva Hellenius (1 save) played every minute in goal for their respective teams.

"Valeria Delgado and Ella Bertram did really well to command a young back line," said Kull. "Both had really clutch moments for us to keep the shutout. Natalia Salas was also a big part with her presence in the midfield."

UTPB had each of the first three corner kicks of the match, the final one leading to the Falcons' first shot of the match off the foot of freshman Trinity Vasquez, who just missed high in the 14th minute.

Cassandra Ramirez tied for a match-high with five shot attempts, and had UTPB's lone shot on goal in the match when she put a free kick from way outside right on target in the 55th minute. The ball nearly bounced over Hellenius, who was just able to get a hand on it and knock it away.

"Cassandra Ramirez was a threat out wide for us tonight," said Kull. "Her ability to create shots is really an asset for us. You can't ask for a better performance from a captain game one."

That was followed by three consecutive corner kicks by Ramirez before the ThunderWolves put on the offensive pressure during the stretch run.

The best chance to score for either team came in the 74th minute when CSUP's Carlia Johnson made a nice pass outside to Jenna Elledge. Elledge found herself breaking away from the UTPB defense and going one-on-one against Delgado, who was able to lunge and make the initial save before corralling the loose ball on the ground and preventing a second shot attempt by the ThunderWolves.

Another great scoring chance for CSUP came in the 82nd minute when Johnson took it herself and launched a laser beam right to left across the box that just got deflected by the UTPB defense and just missed the edge of the goal. Johnson matched Ramirez with five total shot attempts, and led all players with three shots on goal.

Next up for the Falcons will be their second of three straight home matches to open up the 2025 season. UTPB plays host to Wayland Baptist University for its second and final nonconference match of the season at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 10.