EDINBURG – Sophomore Diandra Aliaga scored the first two goals of her career, but the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros women’s soccer team fell to the two-time defending Northeast Conference Champion Fairleigh Dickinson Knights 3-2 in overtime to close the UTRGV Invitational on Sunday at the UTRGV Soccer and Track & Field Complex.

 

Both of Aliaga’s goals gave the Vaqueros (1-1-0) the lead.

 

The first strike came at 36:06 when Aliaga took a pass from senior Elisa Espino and launched an arcing shot from the upper right corner of the box and through the hands of Knights (1-1-0) goalkeeper Amanda Fitzgerald (1-1-0) to make it 1-0.

 

Then, with the score tied at 1 and less than 20 minutes remaining, Aliaga scored on a free kick to make it 2-1.

 

The Vaqueros held their 1-0 lead for nearly 40 minutes before Jackson Bennett buried a rebound off an initial shot by Giselles Perez.

 

Then, three minutes after the Vaqueros took the lead, Elma Kolenovic scored off a pass from Jessi Reinhardt to tie the match.

 

The match went into overtime, and at 91:37, Dara Battistoni fed Kolenovic on the breakaway. She shot a bouncer from point blank range over junior Harlingen South alum Erica Gonzalez (1-1-0) to end the match.

 

Gonzalez and Fitzgerald each finished with five saves.

 

The Knights outshot the Vaqueros 12-to-10, including 8-to-7 on goal.

 

The Vaqueros are back in action on Friday at 7 p.m. when they visit Lamar.

 

About The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley was created by the Texas Legislature on Dec. 7, 2012, in a historic move that combined the resources and assets of UTPA and UTB, and, for the first time, made it possible for residents of the Rio Grande Valley to benefit from the Permanent University Fund. The institution will also be home to a School of Medicine and will transform Texas and the nation by becoming a leader in student success, teaching, research and healthcare. UTRGV enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine opens this fall.