Roadrunners to open campaign this weekend at Aggieland Invitational

SAN ANTONIO — The UTSA women’s soccer team will open its 2011 season with neutral-site matches this weekend against No. 17 UC Irvine and Fresno State at the Aggieland Invitational in College Station.

The Roadrunners and Anteaters open the campaign at 3:30 p.m. on Friday the trip closes two days later with a  10:30 a.m. contest against the Bulldogs.

UTSA returns 16 letterwinners this fall, including two preseason All-Southland Conference picks in sophomores Anka Grotle and Maria Jose Rojas, who were named to the first and second team, respectively. The defending Southland Tournament Champions were tabbed third in the preseason league poll by the coaches and fourth by sports information directors.
 
The Roadrunners’ first test in 2011 will be No. 17 UC Irvine, who is coming off the best season in school history. The Anteaters finished 19-3-2 and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, matching the Big West record for most overall wins and deepest postseason run. UCI returns seven starters, including All-American and Big West Defensiive Player of the Year CoCo Goodson and first-team all-conference selections Judy Christopher and Mar Rodriguez.
 
Fresno State returns a dozen players from its 2010 squad that went 9-9-5 and finished sixth in the future home of UTSA, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC). The Bulldogs ran the table in the league tournament for its second NCAA Tournament berth in three seasons. Picked to finish third in the circuit this season, Fresno is led by Kendall VanDine, who was named to the preseason All-WAC squad. The Bulldogs will look to replace seven starters from last year’s team with the addition of 11 newcomers.
 
This will mark UTSA’s first meetings with UC Irvine and Fresno State.


2011 season outlook

Fresh off a campaign that saw the program claim its first Southland Conference Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance, the 2011 UTSA Roadrunners are ready to add to their trophy case under sixth-year head coach Steve Ballard.

The Roadrunners welcome back 16 letterwinners from a squad that went 13-8-2 overall and set school records for wins, shutouts (10), goals (44), assists (46) and points (134). The season ended in spectacular fashion, as the team claimed the conference tournament crown by defeating No. 6 seed Lamar, No. 2 Stephen F. Austin and Regular Season Champion Southeastern Louisiana before facing national No. 2 seed Portland in the NCAA Tournament.

In addition to the returners, nine newcomers, including transfers from Alabama (Amanda Ortegon), Houston (Ryane Woods) and Missouri (Edith Lopez), join the squad as it prepares to defend its title.

However, with just eight upperclassmen on the roster, Ballard will lean heavily on seniors Katie Dugan, Jodi Leroy, Taylor Padia and Brittany Wilson to lead the team.

“We have four seniors that are very important to our program,” Ballard said. “We’re depending on them to lead us to new heights again this year. As always, you miss those that graduate from the previous year, but we really have a great nucleus returning and it starts at the top with that group of seniors.”

Ballard makes no secret that the team’s goal is to win the program’s first regular season Southland title and make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.

“We plan on taking it one game at a time and play our very best,” Ballard said. “Our goal is to win the Southland Championship, play in the NCAA Tournament and advance. No less than that.”

Goalkeepers
Returning for her third season between the pipes is junior Dacia Webb, who was named the Southland Tournament’s Most Valuable Player and picked up her second honorable mention all-conference nod a season ago.

The Rosenberg native already owns career school records for saves (217), wins (18) and shutouts (12) and tied her single-game record with 16 stops last season at Baylor. Webb posted a single-season best 10-6-2 record and registered 98 saves.

In addition to Webb, sophomores Danielle Snyder and Ari Calderon both saw action last season. Snyder started five matches and finished with a 3-2 mark, including a shutout of Texas Southern, while Calderon appeared in three matches and did not allow a goal.

“Dacia has done a great job in goal for us, as has Danielle and Ari,” Ballard said. “That group may not get many accolades because the defense in front of them is so good. They don’t get shot on much, but Dacia is one of the top keepers in the league.”

Defenders
The back side once again will be a major key to UTSA’s success and the unit returns nearly everyone from last year’s group that helped set a school-record with 10 shutouts.

Sophomore Anka Grotle, a preseason first-team all-conference selection, was one of two players to start all 23 matches and the only freshman named first-team All-Southland last season.

Dugan also played a major part with 13 starts and an appearance in every contest.

Both players earned spots on the conference’s all-tournament team after the defense yielded just one goal in three matches.

The deep group also features Leroy, who had a career year in 2010 with three goals and five assists in 13 starts.

“We are so deep at every position, including defense,” Ballard said. “We have several options with Anka, who can play in the back or midfield, Kimber Chudej, Jodi Leroy, Kirby Wright, Jessica Lyon and Katie Dugan. Our defense is tough and gives us a chance to win every time out.”

Midfielders
The Roadrunners will be charged with replacing four-time all-conference selection Chelsea Zimmerman, who was a member of UTSA’s inaugural squad in 2006. With depth as a central theme around this year’s team, no one person will have the task of filling Zimmerman’s shoes at perhaps the squad’s deepest position.

Junior Lindsay South, along with sophomores Laylla da Cruz and Valentina Lefort, played key roles last season and will look to do the same this fall.

South appeared in 22 matches and tied for second on the squad with five goals, while da Cruz found the back of the net five times and tallied five helpers.

Lopez, who will be a sophomore, and freshmen Liv Nyhegn, Charlotte Husoe and Tori Vargas will help bolster the unit.

Nyhegn (Denmark) and Husoe (Norway) add international playing experience, while Lopez played last year in the always-tough Big 12 Conference.

Sophomore Alex Saraceno returns after appearing in each contest, while Leroy and Grotle also could spend time in the middle.

“Along with all the talent we have returning, we’ve added a few players that will really help us,” Ballard said. “Liv is going to be a great player for us and Charlotte may be our fastest and definitely most fit player. We’ve added some size, a little more pace and some pizzazz in the middle.”

Forwards
UTSA will have to replace Allison Dillon, who holds five career school records, including points (75), goals (29) and assists (17).

Sophomore Maria Jose Rojas returns after leading the team with 16 points on five goals and a team-leading six assists. The Santiago, Chile, native was a second-team All-Southland and all-tournament team selection a season ago and was placed on the preseason second team in earlier this month.

Senior Taylor Padia, who owns more career goals and assists than any returner, saw time in all 23 matches and looks to be a prominent fixture on the field once again. Along with fellow senior Brittany Wilson, the two will help lead an experienced group of forwards.

The Roadrunners welcome a pair of transfers in Woods and Ortegon to help solidify the position. Both will be juniors this season.

Also joining the group will be freshman Anissa Munson, a local product from O’Connor High School.

“With Maria Jose, Taylor and Brittany, our forwards have plenty experience and will be great for us again this year,” Ballard said. “We have a lot of people that can play 90 minutes or come off the bench. That’s going to allow us to be more aggressive up front and not worry about fatigue.”

Schedule
A competitive non-conference schedule should prepare UTSA for the nine-match Southland slate, as the Roadrunners will look to claim their first regular season conference crown.

The ledger kicks off with No. 17 UC Irvine on Aug. 19 and Fresno State two days later in a pair of matches played at the Aggieland Invitational in College Station.

Road matches at SMU (Aug. 26), Baylor (Aug. 28), Texas (Sept. 2) and Texas Southern (Sept. 6) give UTSA eight contests away from the Alamo City to start the campaign.

The Roadrunners will open a season-long five-game home stand on Sept. 16 against Prairie View A&M and they also will welcome UTEP (Sept. 18) and Weber State (Sept. 23) before the start of Southland action with Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 30) and Sam Houston State (Oct. 2).

The season closes with five of seven matches on the road, including three in a row at I-35 rival Texas State (Oct. 9), Central Arkansas (Oct. 14) and Northwestern State (Oct. 16) before the home slate concludes with Lamar (Oct. 21) and McNeese State (Oct. 23).

UTSA will wrap up the regular season on the road at Nicholls on Oct. 28 and Southeastern Louisiana two days later.

The Birds will attempt to defend their Southland Tournament Championship from Nov. 3-6 in Natchitoches, La.