EDINBURG, Tx. – Saint Louis FC drew 1-1 against Rio Grande Valley FC in the first game of the 2018 USL regular season.  RGVFC opened the scoring against the run of play in the 77th minute through Pablo Aguilar before STLFC responded with a Tony Walls goal following a corner kick in the 82nd minute as both teams claimed a point to start the campaign.

The first half saw both teams struggle to create chances with possession split 50-50 after the 45 minutes.  The first chance was created by STLFC Academy product Aedan Stanley as his cross narrowly missed Corey Hertzog in the 12th minute.  RGVFC continued to look for space against an organized defense and responded with a long shot outside the box that was well saved by STLFC goalkeeper Jake Fenlason in the 28th minute.  The final chance of the half came from Hertzog as he took a shot that went wide just before the break.

The second half saw better and more organized attack from both teams and STLFC nearly grabbed the opener in the 47th minute as Stanley’s cross created havoc in the box and almost found Hertzog.  Both teams would make substitutions throughout the second half as they looked for the breakthrough and RGVFC came close in the 61st minute as Fenlason made a great save to keep the score level.  Hertzog almost found the top corner from a shot outside the box in the 70th minute before RGVFC opened the scoring through Aguilar who received the ball on the penalty spot and turned to fire low into the left corner in the 77th minute.  It would not take long for STLFC to equalize as Lewis Hilton’s corner was headed off the crossbar by Wal Fall before being turned into the goal by Tony Walls in the 82nd minute.  Saint Louis FC continued to look for the winner as they dominated the second half but the game would finish level.

"The positive is we get a point on the road after not playing particularly well in my opinion," said STLFC Head Coach Anthony Pulis. "The second half we had some passages of play that were pleasing but on the whole we know we have an awful lot of work to do to reach the standards we expect."

Saint Louis FC will travel to San Antonio FC for the next match on March 24th with kickoff at 7:30 p.m. CT broadcast live on KPLR 11.