SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA soccer team (1-1-1) secured its first win of the 2025 season on Thursday at the Park West Athletics Complex, powering past the crosstown opposition from St. Mary’s in a convincing 3-0 result. It was a big night on the field for a quartet of first-year players and a big night in the stands as the Roadrunners came out victorious in front of a Park West sixth-highest 937 in attendance.
The Roadrunners left little doubt if they were going to play aggressively, bombarding the Rattlers’ defense without the ball leaving St. Mary’s half of the field for the entire first three minutes – peppering StMU goalkeeper Quetza Garza with three shots in that span.
Among UTSA’s 11 first-half shots, redshirt freshman Ava Jackson put a crossing free kick service right on the money in the 33rd minute for an Aaliyaiah Durden header directly to the score – registering a career-first assist for Jackson, an NCAA career-first goal for Durden and UTSA’s first score of the season.
UTSA carried the 1-0 advantage into the break, holding an 11-5 shot advantage over the visiting Rattlers, while maintaining possession for 65 percent of the period and spending 70 percent of their time with the ball in the StMU half.
The Roadrunners went across the goal for a header again 21 minutes into the second half, as freshman Kamryn Watson drove the ball up the right side and fired to the backside of the goal, where classmate Brooklyn Bailey smashed home the second goal of the night at the 66th minute – a career first for both Roadrunner rookies.
Though it was a couple steps shy of being redshirt freshman Leah Varela’s score, a long free kick from sophomore Isabel Peters went awry for the Rattlers in the 73rd minute, as the StMU keeper raced to beat Varela and fired a clearance into her teammate that resulted in an own-goal and a 3-0 UTSA advantage.
On the night, the Roadrunners finished with a 22-6 shot advantage, maintaining possession 60 percent of the night and wrangling their possessions into the Rattlers’ half 73 percent of the time. Among 13 Roadrunners taking an attempt, junior Michelle Polo fired off a team-high five shots, while Durden had three and both Bailey and Varela notched a pair apiece.
In goal, Jasmine Kessler saved the only two on-target attempts she saw, before handing off to freshman Brilynn Mueller in the second half for her first collegiate action between the pipes.
Goals
UTSA: Aaliyaiah Durden (33’), Brooklyn Bailey (66’), StMU Own-Goal (73’)
StMU: None
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
“Like I told the team, the last three games we’ve been up against it defensively. We didn’t have a whole lot of possession against the likes of TCU, Houston and Texas. For us to now flip the game and have a lot more of the ball, have to be under pressure and make better decisions with the ball was a good experience for us. It was good to get the win. It was great to see AD score off a set piece after a great service from Ava Jackson. It was great to see BB get her first real collegiate goal to get her off the mark, and I think that was really good quality play from us to get that second one. And the third one, we put the ball in the right position and were able to capitalize. Overall, fantastic game for us to move and build and prepare for what we’re going to see against Lamar on Sunday night.”
Up Next
The Roadrunners will keep the action against in-state foes for the week, as former Southland Conference foe Lamar will travel southwest from Beaumont to face the Roadrunners for the first time since 2021. The Roadrunners and Cardinals will meet for the 10th time at 7 p.m., Sunday, Aug. 24, for the inaugural Welcome to the Birdcage / Welcome Back Students game at Park West. After opening the season with losses at Louisiana and Texas A&M, the Cardinals managed a break in the action and didn’t play tonight ahead of Sunday’s trip to Park West.
Season tickets are still on sale and all UTSA soccer season tickets are general admission. Season tickets are $65. For an additional $35 at time of purchase (a total price of $100), season-ticket members will receive a limited-edition UTSA Soccer 20th Season scarf and will be invited to exclusive chalk-talks with head coach Derek Pittman and his staff before select home games.
To purchase season tickets, click here to order online or call the UTSA Athletics Ticket Office at 210-458-8872 during normal business hours.
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