SAN ANTONIO – Abby Kassal delivered a penalty kick goal as the golden goal, leading UTSA soccer to its first win over North Texas since 2016, on Friday night at the Park West Athletics Complex.
UTSA (6-4-1, 1-2 Conference USA) drew a penalty kick opportunity four minutes into overtime against a stout North Texas (6-3-3, 1-2-1 C-USA) club, with Kassal converting the penalty with a hard-hit shot in at the far post to lift the Roadrunners to the winner.
It marked UTSA's first win over the Mean Green since 2016, snapping a four-match losing streak to the league power, who had outscored UTSA 12-0 over the last four meetings.
Hear from @CoachDPittman following a overtime winner over North Texas!#BirdsUp 🤙 | #UTSADNA pic.twitter.com/Bs5IKtrMYP
— UTSA Soccer (@UTSAWSOC) October 2, 2021
UTSA's goal scored against the Mean Green marked just the first goal allowed by UNT in the last 294 minutes of action, spanning a double overtime draw with Southern Miss and a 3-0 win over UTEP. UNT – with the nation leader in clean sheets, Sarah Fuller in goal – had allowed just two goals over the five games, with clean sheets in four of the last five games.
The Roadrunners got a shutout from junior keeper Jil Schneider, who worked her fourth shutout of the year, the sixth-best total in single-season history. Schneider saved four shots in the effort and now owns 13 career wins – second-best in UTSA history – and seven career shutouts, third-best in UTSA annals.
North Texas got four saves from Fuller, who owned a 0.59 goals-against average entering the game with seven shutouts in 11 games. UNT owned a 10-9 advantage in shots, with UTSA leading 5-4 in shots on goal and 6-4 in corners.
The penalty kick chance was set up by freshman forward Anna Sutter, a native of Switzerland. Sutter had a run down the far sideline and was tackled inside the box by UNT's Brooke Lampe. Kassal, who missed the first eight games of the year while recovering from injury, stepped up to drill her first goal of the year and the seventh of her career.
UTSA returns to action at Marshall on Friday, facing the Herd at 6 p.m. CT on ESPN+.
- UTSA -