Nelson comes to town for Men’s Soccer’s debut as A&M-Victoria

The Texas A&M University-Victoria men's soccer team hopes to put its best foot forward on Friday.

The Jaguars (0-1) welcome Nelson University to town for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff in the team's first official game as A&M-Victoria.

It's the 11^th meeting all-time between A&M-Victoria and the Lions (1-1-1), which the Jaguars hold a 6-2-1 edge all-time. The two teams battled to a 1-1 draw last season in Waxahachie and A&M-Victoria won the last meeting in Victoria, 2-0, in 2023.

While the Jaguars are coming off a loss to No. 16-ranked Oklahoma City on Saturday, first-year head coach Vince Martinez feels the way the team played at the end was encouraging.

"I liked the way we ended the game," Martinez said. "I think it was a little bit stronger than we started off. We struggled a bit in the middle part of the game, but towards the end we were making our way. The first training after the loss was excellent and Tuesday's training was very good, too. So, I like the way we've been training and the attitude of our boys. I think we'll put out a little bit better performance in our next game."

Martinez said, while the team will have a gameplan for Nelson, the biggest thing in the plan will be to impose their style of play and dictate the game.

"I mentioned to the boys that I'm really focused on getting us ready and won't discuss too much of the opposing team," Martinez said. "That's the emphasis, for us to get started on the right foot. I know it's going to be a tough game at home."

One of the best things from Saturday's season opener was getting to see a lot of players in action.

The Jaguars utilized 22 different players in Saturday's game. Yahir Pena had a pair of shots to share the team lead. Brandon Garay, a Victoria native, had one shot on goal off the bench.

"Yahir had a pretty good game; he was on the ball a lot in the No. 10 spot," Martinez said. "Then some of the guys who came off the bench made an immediate impact like Brandon. He did a solid job. Then Murray Brieley on the right side, he came in and filled in nice. So, it was nice to see some of the guys that didn't get the start come in and make an impact."