UTSA travels to face Tulsa on SundayUTSA travels to face Tulsa on Sunday
Soccer

UTSA travels to face Tulsa on Sunday

SAN ANTONIO – Heading into the final four regular season contests of the season, each outing becomes bigger than the last, and on Sunday the UTSA soccer (7-2-5, 3-0-3 AMER) looks to extend its school-record nine-game unbeaten streak in Tulsa. The Roadrunners travel to Hurricane Soccer Stadium to face Tulsa (7-4-5, 2-2-3 AMER) on head coach Derek Pittman’s old stomping grounds. Set for a 1 p.m. kickoff on ESPN+, the Roadrunners are tied for second in the American Conference standings while the Golden Hurricane are sixth, with every league team fighting to secure positions in the conference tournament.

Following the action
The game will be carried live on ESPN+ with Jeremie Poplin and Brittany Scrapper on the broadcast call.

Tulsa Athletics will also provide live stats.

About the Roadrunners
Without a loss on the card since Aug. 28, UTSA is riding a big wave of momentum heading into the final stretch of the season, pushed along by a nationally ranked defense that has allowed an NCAA-seventh-ranked 0.50 goals per game. At fifth in the national rankings, the Roadrunners hold an .885 save percentage on an average of 3.86 saves per game. UTSA has a pair of league wins bookending three consecutive 1-1 draws over the past five outings and is 1-1-3 away from San Antonio this season. The Roadrunners are coming back to the pitch after a well-timed 10-day break in the schedule following the Oct. 9 South Florida victory.

Racking up two goals in the first-ever series win over South Florida last week at Park West, junior forward Michelle Polo scored for the second consecutive game and logged the first series goal against the Bulls just 87 seconds before half. Redshirt senior Kameron Kloza then delivered the gamewinner in the 78th minute, winning her duel with a clean header off the set piece. The veteran midfielder, senior Zoë May paces the Roadrunners with 10 points total, logging a team-high four goals and two assists, placing 10 of her 20 shots on target. The big shooter, freshman Brooklyn Bailey has taken a team-high 28 shots and leads UTSA with three assists. Meanwhile, Polo and senior forward Izzy Lane have 20 and 19 shots each, going .400 and .474 SOG%, respectively.

In progress on one of the best goaltending seasons in school history, junior Jasmine Kessler rates at 12th nationally on a 0.53 goals-against-average and a conference-leading, NCAA-ninth .877 save percentage with 50 saves on the year. She’s started 44 consecutive games to tie the program standard for goalkeeper starts and already holds the school’s shutouts (15) and draws (14) records. Ranking second in the American and 67th in the NCAA, Kessler has registered five solo clean sheets this season, while sharing the workload on two more outings.

About the Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Now in the fifth season under Jim Rhein, the Hurricane come into Sunday with a 7-4-5 record, earning a 1-0 win over UAB last Thursday, followed by a 1-1 Sunday draw with North Texas last week – resting for the weekday game like the Roadrunners.

UTSA’s defense will be tested again this week by one of the top offenses in the American Conference. The Golden Hurricane have proven to be finishers on the offensive end, leading the conference and ranking 15th nationally with 36 total goals, boasting the NCAA’s 27th-best scoring offense at 2.25 goals per game. Tulsa averages .440 SOG% with 15.2 shots and 6.7 on-target shots per game. Undoubtedly a threat to consider, senior forward Jordan Frederick has 11 goals to lead the American and rank 11th in the country (0.69 goals per game), shooting .500 SOG with 38 shots on the year. Sophomore forward Blaine tops the Hurricane with 39 shots, a .436 SOG, eight goals and two assists, while sophomore midfielder Ady Bechtel also brings six assists to the mix.

In goal, it’s been a familiar foe for the Roadrunners, as senior Tatum Sanders has played 14 games for Tulsa this season and will face UTSA for the third time. She’s logged a 1.66 goals-against-average with 66 saves and a .750 save percentage this season, facing 199 shots with 22 goals allowed this year.

Series History
With the last trip to Tulsa ending in a scoreless draw in 2023, head coach Derek Pittman is 1-1-1 against his alma mater and the Roadrunners are 1-2-1 against the Hurricane overall, dating back to a series-opening loss at Tulsa in 2013. Pittman played four seasons as a starter in goal for the Golden Hurricane from 1993-96 and was a second-team Missouri Valley All-Conference pick in 1995. During his senior year, the Tulsa men were ranked in the top 25. Pittman was raised in the Tulsa area.

Last season at Park West, Tulsa escaped with a 2-1 win despite the Roadrunners’ 27-shot barrage that landed 11 on target. With Sanders in goal and racking up 10 saves, only Peyton Godbey slipped one into the net in the third minute, but Aniya Facen put in the gamewinner for Tulsa in the 26th minute. The Golden Hurricane was able to score on two of their only three on-target attempts. In Sanders’ two matchups with the Roadrunners, she’s logged a .941 save percentage with 16 saves and allowed one goal despite UTSA taking 38 total shots in those games.

UP NEXT: Moving ahead, next week is a huge standoff at Park West as the defending champion, No. 6 Memphis, comes to San Antonio for Breast Cancer Awareness and Greek Night. In each of the two meetings between these teams, Memphis has edged out 1-0 wins over the Roadrunners.

 

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