SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA soccer team (5-3, 0-1 AAC) will hit the road for the first Eastern Time Zone matchup this week as the Roadrunners travel to East Carolina (4-1-3, 1-0 AAC) for the first conference road game in American Athletic Conference play. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Following the Action
Thursday’s AAC road opener at Johnson Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina can be viewed live on ESPN+ with Zach Berly (play-by-play) and Matison Little (analyst) on the broadcast call. East Carolina Athletics will also provide Live Stats.
About the Roadrunners
Opening on a 5-2 start in non-conference action, seventh-year head coach Derek Pittman’s Roadrunners fell to UAB in a 2-1 decision to open AAC competition. After a quiet and even first half, Edmond, Oklahoma freshman Addy Johnson put the Roadrunners on top with a 49th-minute header. However, the Blazers evened things up at 57’ and a closing-minutes procedural penalty kick goal pushed UAB ahead for the final result. Johnson has been the hot offensive asset of late, scoring three goals in the past two games to lead the team and earning last week’s AAC Freshman of the Week. Eight different Roadrunners have scored this season, with Johnson joined by Sasjah Dade, Tyler Coker, Bri Carrigan, Izzy Lane, Zoë May, Olivia Alvarez and Kameron Kloza – five scorers new to the squad this season. UTSA’s shot advantage remains heavy at 122-72, featuring a shot-on-goal lead over the opposition at 63-31.
Sophomore goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler has 23 saves on the year and a .793 save percentage. Now holding 60 career saves, Kessler moves into 10th on the all-time records, after recently moving up to a third-place tie with eight career solo shutouts. The current season record-holder for goals-against-average (0.67) last season, Kessler has a 0.80 GAA this season at 88th in the nation.
About East Carolina
Picked third in the AAC Preseason poll, third-year head coach Gary Higgins has the Pirates in the AAC’s top bunching after the first week of conference play, as 4-1-3 ECU collected a 2-1 win at Temple last Thursday. A heavier-shooting squad, the Pirates average 12.25 attempts per game with 4.75 SOG per outing. Only allowing four goals this season, the 0.50 GAA tops The American, through the efforts of Greenville-local graduate student Maeve English in her fifth season between the pipes. English has an .826 save percentage with 19 stops and four shutouts to her credit this season.
Offensively, the Pirates have eight goals on the year, led by grad student forward Sydney Schnell and junior forward from Argyle, Texas, Emma Sheehan – both players producing two goals and an assist each. Schnell is the leading shooter at 15 attempts on the season, landing seven on target.
Series history
Thursday will mark the first meeting between the Roadrunners and Pirates on the soccer pitch after not meeting last year in UTSA’s first American Athletic Conference season.
UP NEXT: The Roadrunners return to Park West on Sunday for the final non-conference opponent of the season, hosting Abilene Christian (2-1-5) with a 1 p.m. kickoff for Hispanic Heritage Day.
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