The UTEP soccer team hit a rare bump in its breakthrough season, as the team's longest road trip of the year ended in a 2-1 loss to Hawaii after a spirited comeback fell short.
UTEP is now 2-2 in league play and 8-2-3 (two losses) overall. That leads into perhaps its biggest match of the season at home against first-place Colorado College, a Mountain West affiliate member that is a perennial soccer power.
UTEP didn’t come too far from keeping pace with Hawaii when it got an 81st-minute goal from Anai Lopez to pull within 2-1 of the Rainbow Warriors, which was the first goal Hawaii has conceded on its home field in five matches. In the 85th minute, keeper Savanah Finley
came out for a free kick and forced Hawaii into a match-saving save.
UTEP cross country gets final tune-up before MWC championships
The UTEP cross country team heads to its final meet before the Mountain West Conference championships later this month, when it goes to College Station for Texas A&M’s Arturo Barrios Invitational.
The Miners go in with big-time momentum coming off a third-place finish out of 26 teams at Arkansas’ Chili Pepper Invitational on Oct. 3. UTEP's Nathan Kapel clocked 24:02.9 in the 8K (5 miles) race to finish second in a sprint finish, just 0.2 behind Western Missouri’s Pau Valderrama.
The Chili Pepper Invitational is one of the most prestigious meets of the cross-country regular season. It was won by Texas, with North Texas second and UTEP third.
“Really strong, aggressive run from the group today,” UTEP coach Justin Herbert said. “Nathan was a hair away from getting the win in a great sprint finish. He really closed on the winner at the end, just needed a few extra feet. Paul (Rotich) finished 10th with one of his best performances ever.”
UTEP rifle set for belated opener
The UTEP rifle team will finally open its season on Saturday, Oct. 17, at home against Schriener University.
The match was originally set for Oct. 3, but was pushed back because of the storm that hit El Paso that week. Schriener is located in Kerrville, in the Texas Hill Country, about a seven-hour drive from El Paso.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached at bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: UTEP soccer's Hawaii rally denied ahead of first-place test
