SAN ANTONIO – Both teams delivered a goal outside of the run of play, as UTSA soccer (6-3-5, 2-2-2 AMER) and Tulsa (6-6-3, 1-3-2 AMER) slugged it out to the final horn in a 1-1 draw, on Thursday night at the Park West Athletics Complex.
The early going bent toward the visiting Golden Hurricane, keeping the ball consistently in UTSA’s side throughout the opening period and outshooting the Roadrunners 8-4 with a 60 percent possession advantage. However, the Roadrunners largely fended off the attacks until Tulsa slipped a Brooklyn Bumgardner header into the net on a 42nd-minute corner. Working hard to equalize the game in the closing minutes before half, UTSA earned two corners and redshirt sophomore Olivia Christodoulides nearly evened things up in the final minute, but goalkeeper Maddy Nigey beat the ball to the left corner to preserve the lead at the break.
The Hispanic Heritage Night crowd saw a different UTSA approach emerge in the second half, with redshirt sophomore Leah Varela firing off the first of 10 second-half shots in the 51st minute. Things got chippy with physical play leading to six cards in the second half – one of which placed Varela at the penalty line in the 70th minute. Varela went to the lower right corner and netted the equalizer, beating Nigey to the spot for her second goal of the year.
Coming down the stretch, the Roadrunners amped up the pressure, registering eight shots in the final 17 minutes, helped along by five corners in the final five minutes. However, Nigey and the Tulsa defenders weathered the storm and held on for the 1-1 draw. Nigey came away with eight saves on the night, as UTSA placed nine of its 14 shots on goal.
The defending American Conference Defensive Player of the Week, sophomore Sofia Peters led UTSA with a career-best four shots, two on target. Redshirt sophomore Bri Carrigan logged three on-target shots as well.
UTSA limited a typically-efficient Tulsa team to just three shots on goal out of 17 on the night.
Goals
TLS: Brooklyn Bumgardner (42’)
UTSA: Leah Varela (70’)
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
“Disappointed a little bit in how we started. We knew Tulsa was going to be very good at moving the ball around, we just needed to be disciplined in our structure. We regrouped at halftime. In the second half, I thought we looked much more like us; we played super aggressive and came out with the mentality to get the equalizer and go for the win. Proud of how our kids used maturity, character and toughness, and I thought we were unlucky to not see the game out and win it in the end. We’ll keep getting better and get prepared for Memphis next week.”
UP NEXT: A massive rematch from last year’s American Conference Championships is on the calendar, as the Roadrunners travel to Memphis with the Tigers currently holding the league’s top spot. Memphis have won five of their six American games after downing Temple on the road Thursday, 2-0.
- UTSA -