ODESSA, Texas (September 19, 2026) – Coming off its first two road matches of the season, the UT Permian Basin women's soccer team returned home to face Eastern New Mexico University and found itself in a tight battle with the Greyhounds. In the end, UTPB had to score twice in the final 28 minutes to overcome a 1-0 deficit and win 2-1 on the game-winning header by sophomore
Emily Morales.
It was the first win in Lone Star Conference play this season for the Falcons, who at 4-3-0 overall (1-3-0 LSC) have surpassed last year's win total during their first season under the direction of Head Coach
Garrett Kull.
Within the first 10 minutes of the match,
Breanna Reagan nearly put a long free kick into the corner of the goal, but instead it hit off the crossbar, and then in the 17th minute, Reagan corralled a nice pass ahead by
Cassandra Ramirez and made a good cut inside to get off her shot, but just nicked it off the right corner of the crossbar.
In all, Reagan fired six shots in the first 24 minutes of the match while Ramirez had two shots on goal in the first 12 minutes.
Despite a 10-shot lead (16-6) on total shots at the half for UTPB, it was only a 4-3 lead on shots on goal. The 16 shots at the break for the Falcons were only three shots behind their previous season-high (19 shots) for an entire match achieved during the season opener.
ENMU did have its opportunities in the first half, forcing UTPB to stay engaged and focused on both sides of the field and leading to three first-half saves by
Alexia Hernandez.
In the second half, it was ENMU who found paydirt first in the 59th minute as Raylene Carillo passed it to Isabel Ramirez, who took control from outside of the box and fired off a one-touch inside the box and into the left side of the goal.
Playing with a sense of urgency to try and find the equalizer, Reagan's free kick was saved in the 63rd minute, but moments later a goal kick by the Greyhounds was stolen by Reagan, who drove in toward the goal and fired the match-tying shot from outside the box and into the right side of the goal.
With the goal by Reagan, UTPB officially surpassed its 2025 season-goal total (11 goals last year) just seven matches into the season.
Both teams had opportunities to take the lead as the Falcons'
Hadley Kelly tried to pop in a shot over the goalkeeper but just hit it off the crossbar in the 67th minute, and then late in the 72nd minute, a free kick by the Greyhounds' Brenda Zepeda Aguilar was saved by UTPB's goalkeeper in the second half,
Valeria Delgado, who was able to withstand a collision by the crashing Greyhounds' offense.
Then as the match reached its final 10 minutes, a corner kick by Ramirez resulted in the game-winning goal on a header into the left side of the goal by the smallest person on the field, Morales, who scored her first-career goal.
A last gasp for ENMU came in the form of a free kick from right outside the box with 22 seconds remaining, and Keira Gamboa was able to kick it over the wall of Falcon defenders before Delgado knocked it away.
Reagan finished with 11 total shots and four shots on goal. She was followed by Ramirez (5 shots, 4 shots on goal),
Mariela Ojeda (5 shots, 2 shots on goal) and Kelly (2 shots, 1 shot on goal).
Delgado matched Hernandez' first-half total with three saves of her own in the second half to earn the win.
"It was a day where it all came together," spoke Coach Kull. "We have been really trying hard to fix some of the areas that need work behind the scenes, and while this win does not solve any of them, we were able to see the hard work payoff. It also showed us as a team that even when we are down, we are not out of a game. This team has a lot of heart, good intentions, and just needs to mature a bit more for us to establish consistent success. I hope players are getting to enjoy this moment, but we turn around to get back on the road this week. I still think there is a lot more to come from this team."
Week three of LSC action will see the Falcons play at Texas A&M International University starting at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23, before again finishing off the week at home against The University of Texas at Dallas starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 26.
