SAN ANTONIO – It’s a trip to the City of Brotherly Love for the UTSA soccer team (7-5-5, 3-3-3 AMER) this week, as the Roadrunners travel to Temple (4-14-0, 1-8-0 AMER) to conclude the 2025 regular season on Thursday afternoon at the Temple Sports Complex. Thursday’s finale is scheduled for a 3 p.m. CT kickoff and will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Roadrunners will learn about their matchup for the American Conference Championships after all of Thursday’s conference games.
Following the action
The game will be carried live on ESPN+ with Ray Dunne and Riliegh McHugh on the broadcast call from the Temple Sports Complex.
Temple Athletics will also provide live stats.
About the Roadrunners
Even down to the final outing, this is a key matchup for the Roadrunners with tournament seeding on the line. UTSA learned on Sunday that it has clinched an appearance in the American Championships for the first time since joining the conference and the first time in a league tournament since 2022. That season’s tournament run resulted in a UTSA sweep past UAB (1-0, OT), North Texas (2-1) and Florida Atlantic (3-2) – producing the program’s first title and NCAA appearance since 2010. The Roadrunners sit in a tie for fifth in the current American standings, but Thursday’s results could produce some significant shifts for UTSA’s postseason seed.
UTSA reeled off a school-record nine-game undefeated streak that stretched from August to October, but is looking for its first win since the historic series-first victory over South Florida on Oct. 9. In Sunday’s Senior Day matchup with East Carolina, Michelle Polo got the Roadrunners on the board off a set piece, but two more potential UTSA goals came off the board due rulings by the officials. The Roadrunners fired off 22 shots in the 2-1 loss.
Offensively, the Roadrunners are averaging 1.00 goals on 13.6 shots per game, the sixth-highest shooting average in the conference. Defensively, the Roadrunners have been among the conference’s top teams all season, posting a 0.76 goals-against-average (37th NCAA, second American) and .845 save percentage (24th NCAA, second American), giving just 13 goals in 17 games with 11.5 shots and 4.9 shots on goal allowed per outing.
Senior midfielder Zoë May tops UTSA’s scoring with four goals and two assists on a team-best 11 shots on goal (.478 SOG%), while forward Polo has three goals. Freshman forward Brooklyn Bailey leads the team with 30 shots and has registered three assists, a team-high she shares with senior forward Izzy Lane. Between the pipes, junior Jasmine Kessler made her school-record 46th consecutive start against ECU and is second in the conference in goalie minutes, second in shutouts (5), second in GAA (54th NCAA) at 0.80 and first in save percentage (39th NCAA) at .835.
With the home slate completed, the Roadrunners secured an attendance for the Park West finale of 1,050, setting the second season attendance record in three years with a final total of 7,045.
About the Temple Owls
Though the Owls’ 4-14 record and last-place conference standing may look unimposing, this is a vastly different Temple team than last season, slicing the defensive numbers in half from a year ago and proving to be a more capable scoring squad. The Owls have scored in 10 of their games this season and have been on an upswing of late, only allowing second-half goals in losses to North Texas and Charlotte. They then went on the road last Thursday to beat UAB, 1-0 – one of the hardest teams in the league to force a result on. Weather forced the Owls to play No. 3 conference champ Memphis on Monday, resulting in a 6-0 Tigers win.
Temple averages 1.11 goals on 8.22 shots per game this season, led by Pacific transfer midfielder Ariana Gronauer with four and German freshman midfielder Valentina Bitterwolf with three scores. Bitterwolf also has six assists, ahead of junior forward Shari Atkins with four. In goal, reigning American Goalkeeper of the week Tamsin Bynoe has eight of the 18 Temple starts – holding a 1.64 GAA and .809 save percentage. As a team, among three keepers the Owls have a 1.89 GAA and .746 save percentage, allowing 34 goals this season.
Series history
The Roadrunners have met the Owls twice and have a 2-0 record, downing Temple in a 3-0 besting last October at Park West, with the Roadrunners notching their first score in the 35th minute. During UTSA’s first trip to Philadelphia in 2023, the first year in the conference, the Roadrunners came away with a 2-0 win. Across those two meetings, UTSA has outshot Temple 31-13 and Kessler had eight saves, while Bynoe logged seven saves last year at Park West.
UP NEXT: After returning from Philadelphia, it will be a short turnaround for the Roadrunners, who travel to the American Conference Championships, running Nov. 3-9 at the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. UTSA will learn its seed and opponent on Thursday after all conference games are final.
- UTSA -