SAN ANTONIO – Coming off of a postseason-clinching road win over last year's conference champion, UTSA soccer (8-4-2, 3-2-1 C-USA) returns home to face C-USA opponent UAB (5-8-2, 3-3-0 C-USA) on Friday at 7 p.m. The match will be played at Park West and will be streamed on CUSA.tv.
The Roadrunners' last match was not only historic in the fact that they clinched a C-USA postseason berth for the first time in program history, but also that it was the Roadrunners' first-ever win at Rice. The win was only the second time UTSA had ever toppled the conference power.
The match against the Owls was a tightly contested, defensive slugfest. The two squads played a scoreless 90 minutes and entered overtime. Roadrunner freshman Anna Sutter came through in the clutch, as she scored a golden goal in the 97th minute to give UTSA the victory.
Following the victory, the Roadrunners are now unbeaten in their last four conference matches, and UTSA has 10 points in conference standings. The win also continued UTSA's best start in program history, as 8-4-2 is the best winning percentage through 14 games in UTSA history.
The Roadrunners enter Friday's match holding a goal differential of 19-13 on the season. UTSA is averaging 1.36 goals per game and is shooting 42% of their total shots on net. The Roadrunners are averaging 13.8 shots per game. Through five games of conference play, UTSA holds a 90-52 shot advantage, a 40-26 shot on goal advantage and a 27-23 corner kick advantage.
UTSA goalkeeper Jil Schneider has saved 46 shots and posts a 0.89 goals-against average. UTSA has seen 11 different players score through 14 games this season. Anna Sutter leads the offensive charge, as she has five goals this season. Ellis Patterson has three goals, while Isa Hernandez and Kendall Kloza have two goals apiece. Patterson leads the squad with five assists, and Alissa Stewart is second on the team with four. Patterson leads the team in points scored with 11 and shots attempted with 31.
UAB enters the game on Sunday with a 5-8-2 record overall and a 3-3-0 C-USA record. The Blazers have been outscored by their opponents 23-15 this season and average 1.00 goal scored a match. UAB has eight players who have scored a goal this season. Forward Laura Zemberyova leads the offensive assault, as she has eight points off of three goals and two assists. The Blazers have rotated two goalies in the net this season. Anika Toth has played in nine matches and has three wins with 27 goals allowed. The other goalkeeper, Eve Beyer, has played in six matches and has two wins to pair with 14 saves.
This matchup will mark the 5th meeting between UTSA and UAB. The Blazers enter the match holding a 3-1 series advantage. The most recent meeting between the teams was in March earlier this year, when UTSA fell to UAB on the road, 2-1.
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