SAN ANTONIO – All the preseason exhibitions are in the books and the Roadrunners kick off for real at 7 p.m. this Thursday, Aug. 14 at the Park West Athletics Complex. UTSA soccer opens its historic 20th program season hosting Big 12 Conference opponent Houston for the Roadrunners Salute to Armed Forces and Veterans. Thursday’s 2025 season opener against the Cougars will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
Game Theme/Promotions
USAA will be the official game sponsor for the first UTSA competition for any sport in the 2025-26 season, as Thursday’s game will be UTSA’s Salute to Armed Forces and Veterans. Leading up to kickoff, the colors will be presented by the Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Texas. The UTSA marketing team will be giving away free USAA x UTSA foam fingers while supplies last. The United States Navy will have a truck display and a pull-up bar at their information table, also providing giveaways for fans. SA United is the youth club of the game. There will also be a bounce house out at Park West.
On the Air
Catch the live broadcast from Park West streaming on ESPN+, featuring Karl Schoening (play-by-play) in his fifth season broadcasting UTSA soccer, alongside Katie Goodman (analyst) for the second season on the broadcast call.
UTSA Athletics will also provide LIVE STATS from Park West.
Season Tickets
UTSA Soccer season tickets are available for the 2025 campaign – the 20th year of the program, starting at just $65 - with a $35 VIP option that provides a limited-edition UTSA Soccer 20th Season scarf and an invitation to exclusive chalk-talks with head coach Derek Pittman and his staff prior to select home games. UTSA has led the American Conference in average home attendance each of the last two seasons and welcomed a record 7,002 fans through the gates in 2023.
Tickets to Thursday’s Game
Single-game tickets are available online, at the UTSA ticket office and at the Park West box office (an hour before game time).
All seating is general admission - Buy Houston vs. UTSA Tickets Here
- Adults - $10
- Juniors (ages 3-18) - $7
- Seniors (ages 65+) - $7
- Military (with ID) - $7
- UTSA Students: Free Admission with UTSA ID, download tickets at goUTSA.com/studentlogin.
About the Roadrunners
Opening up the program’s 20th season and eighth under head coach Derek Pittman, the UTSA soccer team finished 8-7-3 last season and were 5-3-1 in the friendly confines of Park West – where the Roadrunners have maintained a 69.1 percent win rate (21-8-5) over the past four seasons. The 2025 season brings a new look for the Roadrunners, with many of the most familiar faces over UTSA’s recent rise now departed as graduates. UTSA lost 15 letterwinners from last season, including five starters. However, the Roadrunners return six starters, including defender Kameron Kloza, midfielder Michelle Polo, midfielder Zoë May, defender Rylee Miller, forward Izzy Lane and goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler. There are 14 new faces on the roster for 2025, including 11 from the high school ranks and three transfers. In addition, UTSA has four new players who did not see the field and redshirted in 2024.
Always a defensive stalwart program, the Roadrunners ranked 40th nationally and third in the American Conference with a 0.833 goals-against-average, holding up a 63rd-ranked .808 save percentage that was fourth in the American. As a team, UTSA averaged 14.2 shots per game, 6.9 shots on goal per game and 1.17 goals per game.
Between the pipes for 30 games across the past two seasons, Kessler was just listed among the nominees for the NACDA/Allstate Good Works Team, the Preseason American Watch List and enters the season with a career 0.79 GAA, 98 saves, 10 shutouts and an .810 save percentage. Joining Kessler on the American Watch List, Polo co-led the team with four assists last season and May added a goal and an assist while playing the most minutes outside of Kessler at 85.6 mpg.
About the Houston Cougars
UTSA will see a familiar face on the opposing bench as 2023 UTSA associate head coach Ben Williams takes over a Houston team that went 4-12-1 a year ago. Williams joined the Cougars after a first-year turnaround at Stephen F. Austin, flipping the Lumberjacks from 2-14-2 in 2023 to 14-4-2, a Southland Conference title and an NCAA appearance.
The Cougars lost 19 players from last year’s squad and have 15 newcomers – leaning heavily on 11 transfers along with four high schoolers – returning only two goals and three assists from last year. Those two goals belonged to senior Cameryn Maddox, who has nine career scores and two assists for the Cougars. Southland All-Tournament Team players Ella Morgan and Ava Shannon helped SFA earn a title and are now at Houston – Shannon racked up six goals and five assists for the ‘Jacks, while Morgan scored twice and started 19 games on the back line. Forward Adelhia Ghonda played 27 games with four goals and four assists at Oklahoma State. Another familiar face will appear in the opposite net, as UH brought in Florida Atlantic’s Lexi Gonzalez, who played three seasons for the Owls with 167 saves, a 1.27 GAA and .739 save percentage.
Series history
The Roadrunners and Cougars are meeting for the second consecutive year after UTSA fell in a 2-1 setback at Houston last year, as midfielder Aryanna Jimison notched both UH scores and goalkeeper Olivia Dietrich fended off 14 UTSA on-target shots. On Thursday, these programs meet for the 11th time and fourth time with Pittman leading the Roadrunners. The last meeting at Park West on Feb. 24, 2021 ended in a scoreless draw. Houston holds a 6-3-1 series advantage, with UTSA’s last victory coming on Aug. 23, 2009, a 2-1 win for the Roadrunners on the road in double overtime.
UP NEXT: It’s a big opening week for Big 12 Conference opposition, as UTSA welcomes ninth-ranked TCU to Park West at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 17, pitting the Roadrunners and Horned Frogs against each other for the first time since meeting in the NCAA Tournament in 2022.
- UTSA -