There are a lot of new faces on staff around UTPB for the upcoming fall season and two of those coaches got a chance to speak to the media Monday at a press conference at the D. Kirk Edwards Human Performance Center.
Both men’s and women’s soccer programs at UTPB will enter the seasons under new leadership.
Men’s head soccer coach Victor Domingues was just recently elevated to the top position last week following the retirement of former head coach Dennis Peterson.
Peterson, who had been in charge for 22 seasons, announced his retirement on Aug. 11.
Domingues, the assistant head coach, was promoted to the interim head coach position.
He feels ready for the challenge.
“It’s been amazing,” Domingues said. “We’ve had a little bit of a transition in the spring to let me take over everything. It was great. It allowed me to take the foundation of the team. The guys bought into what I asked them, especially on the physical aspect.
“We’ve been doing a lot of fitness tests. We’ve seen a lot of dedication from each and every player. If we want to achieve our goals, we have to do things right. To me, that makes me really excited to start the season.”
Peterson left UTPB as the longest-serving coach in school history, guiding the Falcons through the start of competition as an NCAA program in 2007 through the recent merger of the Heartland and the Lone Star conferences
Domingues said he isn’t feeling any pressure.
“I’m a very competitive person,” Domingues said. “I think competition and pressure go hand-in-hand. If you don’t want to have the pressure, you can’t compete.
“I’m loving it right now. Right now, everything falls on my shoulders and I’m looking to achieve those things.”
The Falcons are coming off a 4-13-2 overall record from 2021 which included a 3-5 showing in Lone Star play.
UTPB’s first game this season will be a 7 p.m. matchup on Aug. 25 against Fort Lewis at Falcon Field.
The UTPB women’s soccer team enters the 2022 season with its second new head coach in three years as Carla Tejas took over in the spring.
Tejas comes in after having served as the head coach at Louisiana Christian College where she helped orchestrate a turnaround, going from 1-16-1 in 2019 to 16-2-1 in 2021 and reaching the NAIA National Tournament.
Tejas is the fourth head coach in program history, taking over a team that finished 2-16 overall and 1-12 in conference play last fall.
Building a strong culture has been the major key.
“I think that was one of the first things I talked about when I got here,” Tejas said. “A strong culture creates a winning culture. The girls are very excited to buy in. we care about each other on and off the field.”
The first step to building that culture has been character.
“I think we have character and strong minds,” Tejas said. “That’s one of the things about our culture, we have strong character”
The Falcons will begin their season against University of the Southwest (N.M.) at 5 p.m. on Aug. 25 at Falcon Field.
“We’re very excited,” Tejas said. “Half of the team is new. We have about 15 returners. We’re very excited for this season.”
>> Volleyball season: UTPB volleyball head coach Tim Loesch also spoke about his excitement to begin a new season.
The 2022 team finished its first week of practice.
“We’re tired but improving,” Loesch said. “It’s been a good week. There’s been no major injuries.
“We’re excited for the start of our season in a couple of weeks; we’ll play four matches in two days when we open our tournament. We’re trying to stay fit and prepare our skills and fighting spirit to get off to a strong start for the season.”
UTPB is coming off a 17-11 overall record from last year, including a 10-7 mark in conference play.
The Falcons begin their season at home with a weekend tournament as they host The Dr. Steve Aicinema “Iceman” Invitational at the Falcon Dome.
UTPB will face Eastern New Mexico at 1 p.m. Aug. 26 in its first game, followed by a 5 p.m. contest against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
The Falcons will face Augustana at 1 p.m. on Aug. 27, followed by a 5 p.m. game against University of the Southwest (N.M.) .
“We play great at home so we’re excited about that,” Loesch said. “We only had one tournament here so we’re excited to host that again.
“We expect to have a good crowd. We expect to have some exciting games. I’m encouraging everyone to come out from the community.”
One of the things that has stood out for Loesch in last week’s practices were the players’ fitness levels.
“We’ve had a lot of good things,” Loesch said. “I guess the first was everyone passed the fitness test. That’s a first. Usually we have players that have to make it up.
“But that was nice that everyone passed it. That was something we challenged the team. If we wanted to finish higher, we have to start stronger. That’s a good baseline and now we’re just getting the teamwork and we have the athleticism going already.”
>> Week 1 of football done: The UTPB football team is also coming off its first week of practice for the season and head coach Justin Carrigan spoke about his team’s energy.
“I think the energy level has stayed through the roof,” Carrigan said. “That’s great to see. Everyone’s excited. But we’ve pushed past the normal timeline for excitement and continuing on. The energy level has been great. But now everybody’s loving the process and having a good time.”
Senior wide receiver MJ Link talked about the team chemistry after the first week of practice.
“It feels good,” Link said. “Our team bonded better. Everyone came together as a whole. As we move forward in the next two weeks, we’ll get better.”
UTPB is coming off a 5-5 overall (3-4 in conference) record from 2021.
Carrigan says a lot of players stood out from last week’s round of practices.
“As for freshmen, Keewan Grismore at linebacker has done a tremendous job and he’s inching his way up the depth chart,” Carragan said. “We have a couple of quarterbacks, Dylan Graham and Jordan Barton have been doing a great job.
“There’s a lot of good young talent. It’s hard to say much because we’ve only had one day in full pads. I think we’ll know a lot more soon after. We’re excited to see who can grab the attention from all the coaches and make big plays.”
UTPB’s first game will be Sept. 3 against Southwest Baptist at Midland’s Astound Broadband Stadium.
