EDINBURG, Texas – Rio Grande Valley FC maintained its perfect start to the season on Sunday night as goals either side of halftime by Wan Kuzain and Christian Sorto gave the hosts a 2-1 victory against San Antonio FC at H-E-B Park.

The Toros almost grabbed the lead inside three minutes when a clever pass by Elvis Amoh sent Kuzain in behind the SAFC defense, but after the midfielder moved centrally to shoot he was closed down well by Matt Cardone for a fine save to keep the game scoreless.

San Antonio’s first real threat on goal didn’t arrive until the 14th minute when Cam Lindley fired a long-range shot that was saved by Tyler Deric, while Cardone had to be sharp again 12 minutes later as Sorto fired a turning shot from 12 yards toward the bottom-left corner that the SAFC goalkeeper got down well to turn around the post.

RGVFC took the lead three minutes before the break, however, as Carter Manley found Kuzain in the right channel before Kuzain wove through a pair of defenders. With no defender approaching the attacking midfielder moved into the right side of the penalty area and then threaded a low finish past Cardone into the far corner of the net.

The Toros then doubled their lead 12 minutes into the second half as James Murphy fed Sorto on the left. Sorto began to drive centrally, and with Grant Robinson drawing attention on an overlap the space opened up for Sorto to fire a low shot into the right corner of the net. San Antonio responded in the 68th minute, though, as a corner kick from the right was headed down by Jasser Khmiri toward Marcus Epps, whose initial shot was blocked onto the right post before falling nicely for Santiago Patino to finish from close range.

The visitors looked to use the impetus of the goal to find an equalizer late on, but after conceding their first goal of the season the Toros held firm defensively over the final stages, allowing them to pick up a third consecutive victory to start the campaign.

USLChampionship.com Man of the Match

Wan Kuzain, Rio Grande Valley FC – Kuzain scored the opening goal, had two shots on target overall and won 7 of 9 duels and completing 11 of 14 passes overall to help his side to victory.

Scoring Summary
RGV – Wan Kuzain (Carter Manley) 42’
RGV – Christian Sorto (James Murphy) 57’
SA – Santiago Patino 68’

Full Box Score