ODESSA, Texas (August 27, 2026) – After a little bit of rain at the start of the match, the Falcons were pouring in the goals early as The University of Texas Permian Basin women's soccer team defeated the University of the Southwest (N.M.) 7-1 in their 2026 season opener at the UTPB Soccer Field. It was the Falcons' most goals scored in a match since the 2010 season and was their sixth time reaching the seven-goal mark in program history.
Sophomore
Trinity Vasquez netted the Falcons' first goal of the season after beating the goalkeeper to the ball less than three and a half minutes into the match. It was the second year in a row Vasquez scored the first goal of the year for UTPB (1-0 overall).
Just three minutes later, sophomore
Mariela Ojeda scored over the top of the goalkeeper.
The ball continued to bounce UTPB's way as Vasquez found herself caught in between two defenders and the goalkeeper before the ball was flipped out to sophomore
Ailene Rodarte, who fired in the shot from about 12 yards out in the 12th minute.
After Ojeda's second goal of the match in the 14th minute, redshirt senior
Cassandra Ramirez got on the board in the 17th minute, taking it herself from 35 yards out and scoring past both her defender and the keeper.
That made it a 5-0 Falcons' lead less than 16 and a half minutes into the match and set the stage for 24 Falcons to play at least 15 minutes (including three goalkeepers).
"It is always rewarding when you spend an offseason and a preseason working incredibly hard like this group has to be good at the way we play, and it was fun tonight to get to see them see the fruits of their labor," spoke UTPB's second-year head coach
Garrett Kull. "I was incredibly impressed not only with our offensive firepower, but also the depth that we were able to use off the bench."
After a goal on a long free kick got USW (0-1) on the board in the 22nd minute, the new UTPB goalkeeper, redshirt freshman
Alexia Hernandez, shut out the Mustangs for all 54 of her minutes in goal before the third goalkeeper, freshman
Nicole Quinones, made her first collegiate save in the final 10 minutes of the match.
Not to be outdone by Ojeda's brace, Ramirez found herself scoring twice in the second half, first in the 70th minute and then lastly in the 76th minute on a beautiful shot from out on the left side across the goal that she buried into right corner of the goal.
Ramirez was not the first Falcon to record a season-opening hat trick vs. the Mustangs, matching the feat originally accomplished by Kaylee Overmyer in a 4-0 win in 2022.
Ramirez is the fourth player to record a hat trick in program history and the first since Overmyer in 2022. It was the fifth total hat trick recorded in program history.
Ramirez put all four of her shots on target while Ojeda led all players with five total shot attempts.
In addition to the goal scoring, sophomore
Sarah Williams noted a pair of assists while Vasquez added an assistant to go along with her season-opening score.
"Obviously, the biggest takeaway will be cleaning up some of the finer areas of the game where we did not execute to the level that I would like, but it is always fun celebrating opening up the season with a win on your home turf," added Coach Kull. "We had great support from Falcon nation tonight; they really powered us to this victory, but we are ready to hit the ground running as we prepare for our next match."
Next up for the Falcons will be their second of four straight home matches to open up the 2026 season. UTPB plays host to Wayland Baptist University for its second nonconference match of the season at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, September 2. Last year, UTPB defeated WBU 3-1 at home in what was again the Falcons' second match at home to open up the season.
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