SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA soccer team (5-5-2, 0-2-1 AAC) fell in American Athletic Conference action on Thursday night at Park West, dropping a 2-0 decision to RV North Texas (8-1, 2-0-1 AAC), as first-half Mean Green goals put the game away despite an aggressive Roadrunners second half.
While the Roadrunners heavily controlled possession in the opening half, 60-40, the shots were at an even 5-5 margin and UTSA was held without an on-target attempt. The Mean Green connected on a pair of scores, first scoring in the 12th minute as Summer Brown high-kicked a ball from point-blank range to take take the lead, then goalkeeper Maddie Ogden edged a ball just under the top pipe on a midfield free kick with just five seconds to go before halftime.
Playing with a deficit in the second half, the Roadrunners notched six more opportunities, registering a trio of on-target attempts by Alissa Stewart, Jordan Walker and Deja Sandoval. UTSA clamped down the defensive effort, holding UNT to just three second-half shots with none on target. UTSA finished off the night with a 59-41 possession advantage and limited UNT to just 18 percent of their attacks in the UTSA attacking third.
Sandoval topped all Roadrunners on the attack, matching a two-year-old career high with four shots.
Goals
UNT: Summer Brown (12’), Maddie Ogden (44’)
UTSA: None
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
“I thought our team played well at times tonight. We moved the ball and did exactly what our gameplan was with how we needed to defend and how we needed to attack. Unfortunately, good teams are going to punish you when you have mental errors, and those two goals we gave up were mental errors. Because of that, we find ourselves disappointed. The attitude, the effort, the mentality of our players to try to carry out the gameplan was good. So now, we need to go back to the drawing board and keep working to get ready for SMU.”
Up Next
The Roadrunners are back on the road and are slated to face a 5-3-1 (1-1-1 AAC) SMU squad in Dallas at the Mustangs’ Washburne Soccer and Track Stadium. SMU dropped a 2-1 conference tilt to Memphis on Thursday. These teams will meet for the sixth time next Thursday (Oct. 5) in the first matchup since 2014.
- UTSA -