SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA soccer team (3-2-1) returns to the friendly confines of the Park West Athletics Complex on Thursday for the fourth home contest of the year, serving as host to visiting Texas A&M-Commerce (1-4-1) for Military Appreciation and Youth Camp Reunion Night. With the Roadrunners looking to extend their good fortunes at home, kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the broadcast is slated for ESPN+.
Broadcast and Live Stats
- Thursday’s game will air at 7 p.m. on ESPN+ for subscribers. Karl Schoening (play-by-play) and former Roadrunner Alyssa Blankenship (analyst) will be on the call.
- UTSA live stats can be found via goUTSA.com.
Game Themes
Thursday will share a dual purpose, serving as UTSA’s Military Appreciation as well as the Roadrunners Youth Camp Reunion.
Catching Up with the Roadrunners
The Roadrunners are fresh off a hard-fought draw on Sunday at Cal Baptist and their first trip to the Golden State since 2012. After a sluggish first half on offense, UTSA delivered a boosted aggressiveness in the second half, outshooting the Lancers 7-3 after halftime, but were kept off the scoreboard for the first tie of the year. Making her first career start, Oregon State transfer Isobel Herrod captured three saves, including consecutive grabs in the 38th minute. The Roadrunners defense allowed the Lancers just a 30 percent opportunity in reaching the attacking third.
UTSA arrived in Riverside, Calif. from Phoenix, where they saw 104° temperatures at kickoff and a full-blown dust storm that spanned the final 28 minutes; in addition to facing off with one of the nation’s top Goal scorers, Gianna Gourley – who put in both goals for Grand Canyon in the 2-0 loss. The Roadrunners literally weathered the storm and maintained their attack despite the conditions, firing off six shots in the nearly-zero-visibility playing area during the storm.
Making a rare non-appearance at CBU, junior Mia Krusinski has been the centerpiece in goal for the Roadrunners defense. She’s racked up 450 minutes through five games this season. She has 16 saves and a .762 save percentage on a 1.00 GAA. In her second season since transferring from Florida Gulf Coast, Krusinski holds an 11-5-2 record between the pipes with 53 saves, six shutouts, a 0.95 GAA and a .768 save percentage. She ties for fourth on the UTSA career victories list, fourth in career shutouts and is currently sixth on the save percentage list. One more save places her on the career saves rankings. She currently ranks fourth among AAC keepers in GAA and shutouts.
Staying in the team box last time out, Krusinski snapped a 14-game starting streak that dated back to last season. Krusinski was one of three from UTSA named to the American Athletic Conference Preseason Watch List after an 8-3-2 record and four shutouts in 2022. She grabbed a career-high 11 saves in the NCAA Tournament match against TCU and recorded 10 saves in the three-game 2022 Conference USA Tournament Championship stretch, earning a spot of the All-Tournament Team last November.
Staying on Target
UTSA ranks fifth among American Athletic Conference schools at 13.40 shots per game and sixth with 5.83 shots on target per outing. Pacing the ‘Runners, graduate defender Sabrina Hillyer has registered 12 shots, with six on target, coming up to 2.40 shots per contest with a .500 SOG%, a goal and an assist. Junior forward/midfielder Jordan Walker has eight, with four on goal and also a .500 SOG% – scoring one goal. Providing a diversified attack, 14 Roadrunners have taken an on-target shot this year and three different players have logged the game-winner. Only freshman Sophie Morrin has multiple goals, putting in a pair, while six other Roadrunners have netted a goal.
UTSA displays the same variety to doling out assists, with 12 assists spread across eight players. Leading the charge, fifth-year defender Alex Granville and junior midfielder Jordyn Hyland are tied with three assists apiece, with Granville ranking second in the AAC and 75th nationally with 0.50 assists per game.
Home Sweet Home
The Roadrunners have enjoyed the opportunity to reel off three consecutive home victories at Park West to open up the 2023 campaign. However, the Roadrunners’ home streak actually extends to seven contests and back to last September. The comforts of the home pitch have been good to UTSA the past two seasons and a big component of the program’s meteoric rise. Dating back to the 2021 season, the Roadrunners have racked up a 15-2-4 record at Park West for a whopping 80.9 winning percentage at home. This season, UTSA has also outscored the incoming opposition, 8-1, while outshooting visiting teams 53-10 at Park West.
Series history
Given Texas A&M-Commerce’s recent ascension to the Division I level and joining the Southland last year, the series between the programs has been quite limited in regular season competition. While UTSA has played among the Division I ranks since 2006, the Lions’ first DI season was 2022 – with the Roadrunners making the trek to Northeast Texas and coming home with a 2-0 win on their inaugural slate. The Roadrunners earned their third straight shutout on the year with the victory bolstered on the game-winner for Sasjah Dade and a late own-goal for the Lions. The Roadrunners had just one save on the night, holding the Lions to four shots.
Scouting the Lions
Now heading into their fourth consecutive road contest, the Lions’ 1-4-1 record may be a little deceiving, dropping a pair of 3-1 outings at perennially talented American Athletic Conference foe North Texas – currently leading UTSA’s division at 5-1 – and at a 3-0-2 ULM squad that won 10 games last season. In their last outing, the Lions got beat up at LSU, who are 4-2 and receiving votes – after winning 10 games and making the NCAA field for the second straight year last season. Before hitting the road, TAMU-C delivered a 2-0 win over AAC foe Tulsa.
The Lions had five players selected to the All-Southland Conference preseason team, all returning from a 9-win team that reached the SLC Championship match in their first season in the league. Reigning Southland Conference Freshman of the Year forward Mya Mitchell was on the first team, alongside 2022 first-team midfielder Ashley Campuzano and defender Mindy Shoffit. Nya Mitchell and Hailey Griffin also earned second-team preseason nods. However, it has been freshman forward Hannah Bell that has rung up three goals to lead the team, with five shots on target of 11 shots and a .455 SOG%. Campuzano, Hailey Griffin and Kaydence Ramirez have each added a goal apiece. Making appearances in all six games with four starts, freshman keeper Sophia Dean has shouldered 370 minutes, collecting 20 saves and a .667 save percentage on a 1-2 record.
UP NEXT: Back on the road on Sunday, but this time to East Texas, UTSA heads out to Nacogdoches for a trip to the newest member of the University of Texas System, Stephen F. Austin. The Lumberjacks are off to a 1-5 start against teams from the Big 12, The American and one Sun Belt foe. Before hosting UTSA, the Jacks will head to Austin to face 17th-ranked Texas.
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