SAN ANTONIO – Rylee Miller was one of the cornerstones that created the foundation of the Tarleton women’s soccer program, and she holds the distinction of scoring the first goal in Texans history.
After starting all 37 games in two years at Tarleton and logging 2,882 minutes of experience, Miller was looking to challenge herself beyond what even she thought was possible. She felt that UTSA and head coach Derek Pittman provided the perfect environment for her growth and immediately focused her sights on the Roadrunners.
“Throughout the process, Rylee sought us out a lot for the opportunity to come here and really push herself coming from Tarleton,” Pittman said. “She had a tremendously successful two years at Tarleton. Rylee has earned every bit of this opportunity. The thing that we loved about her is that she’s an extremely tough, hard-working, blue-collar kid. She leaves everything out there.”
A native of Midland, Texas, Miller was looking to push her own limits and focus on continual improvement. She quickly found a home in San Antonio.
“I felt like it was a higher-level program that could really challenge me, and it definitely has,” Miller said. “I’m from Texas and I really wanted to stay in Texas close to family. I’m so glad I’m here and it’s home now.”
Miller found herself in the UTSA lineup perhaps quicker than anyone expected in the 2024 campaign when Haley Lopez, who had started 18 matches for the Roadrunners in 2023, injured her hamstring just two games into last season.
“Rylee has developed immensely,” Pittman said. “When she stepped in for Haley last year, I’m not sure we knew what her ceiling was. Every single time, if I ask her to go work on this, she is staying after training doing those things. She’ll go and watch film and she’ll study and she’ll ask questions about how she can improve. I’ve pushed her and I’ve challenged her like I do all of our players. We don’t want them to stay status quo. It’s players like Rylee that have had an open mind to the coaching and the feedback that continue to keep growing and improving.”
Miller, a 5-foot-7 defender, has played in all 14 games this season for UTSA, starting seven. She’s been a mainstay on the Roadrunners’ back line that has established itself as one of the best in the nation. UTSA is eighth nationally with a goals-against average of 0.50, fourth in the nation in save percentage at .885 and 46th in shutout percentage at .500. Miller is quick to credit her entire team for their defensive success.
“Just all around, all of the girls are bought in,” Miller said. “It’s not just the back line, it’s the girls in front of us. I can trust that they are going to do their job ahead of me. We’re all just out there working for each other and as a team.”
Pittman agrees, saying that the entire team taking pride in its defensive performance has been paramount.
“It’s mindset, for sure,” he said. “Our group knows that we’re going to defend from the front all the way to the back – from the forwards to the goalkeeper. We want to be able to control the game in a lot of ways without the ball. We want to have the ball as much as possible, but our players understand we don’t always have to have the ball to control the game. We can dictate play. It’s everyone across the board doing their job to disrupt the other team and not give them easy opportunities to score goals off us.”
Miller has played a critical role in UTSA’s seven shutouts this season. The Roadrunners are in the midst of a nine-game unbeaten streak and sit in second place in the American Conference standings.
“Rylee is one of the hardest tacklers on our team,” Pittman said. “We talk about it all the time – Rylee tackles like a truck. There’s not a tackle she’s going to back out or go halfway through. That was evident in the spring when she unfortunately suffered an injury due to it, but she has worked her way back in and has done a phenomenal job contributing. She is exactly what I want in a defender. Her mentality is to contribute to the team and do a lot of things that don’t always show up in a box score but are massive when it comes to defending the box and being one of the best defensive teams in the country.”
Miller has appreciated the development she has experienced – exactly what she was hoping for when she first reached out to UTSA for an opportunity to continue her soccer career.
“I’ve grown in a lot of different ways – as a person and as a soccer player,” she said. “I think the coaching staff has really helped me develop as a player with my IQ and playing style.”
Off the pitch, it’s been a big year for Miller – previously Rylee Low - who on June 21 married her husband Cort, a former baseball player at Midland College who has since moved to San Antonio. The two met in their hometown and were engaged in May 2024.
Miller looks forward to capping her senior season with the program’s first berth in the American Conference Championships and an opportunity to compete for an NCAA Tournament spot. The Roadrunners currently sit at No. 60 in the latest NCAA RPI and achieved a program-best RPI rating of 56 earlier this year.
“It was definitely disappointing not to make the conference tournament last year, but I think we’re just really excited with where the team is going. It would be my first time ever at a conference tournament, so that would be really exciting.”
As UTSA enters the final stretch of the 2025 regular season, Pittman knows that Miller is a big reason for the team’s success this year.
“For her to be doing what she’s doing in her senior year, we’re grateful to have Rylee’s leadership and her overall commitment to the team,” he said.