SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA soccer team (4-3-4, 0-2-1 AMER) never got fully on the front foot offensively in Friday night’s American home-opening loss to Rice (4-5-3, 2-2-0 AMER). The Owls came away with a 3-0 win over the Roadrunners on a water-logged night at the Park West Athletics Complex.
After a defensive standoff that went into the 24th minute before either team posted a shot on the board, the Owls landed the first blow in the 30th minute with Eileen Albers netting a penalty kick to take the mid-half lead. Less than two minutes later, Rice extended its lead on Sloane Popov’s 31st-minute score.
After trailing 2-0 at half without a shot registered, UTSA was quick to flip the field and get into the Owls’ defensive third, posting quality shots from Leah Varela and Ava Jackson to get the Roadrunners’ offense moving. However, the Owls also got back into its first-half rhythm with a series of shots on goal to further test the UTSA defense. Though the Roadrunners placed 6-of-9 second half shots on goal, Rice’s Lauren Pickup netted the Owls’ third goal in the 74th minute and held off UTSA to the final horn.
Jackson and Varela led the UTSA effort with two on-target shots apiece, while Jasmine Kessler picked up five second-half saves.
Goals
UTSA: None
RICE: Eileen Albers (30’), Sloane Popov (31’), Lauren Pickup (74’)
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
“We got it wrong this week as a coaching staff in how we prepared the team. We knew that Rice was going to come in here and be difficult, and I should have done a better job of preparing the team to be tougher and ready for what we were going to experience. We’ll learn from it and get back to showing the character, toughness and grit that we live by in this program.”
UP NEXT: The Roadrunners are not in action on Sunday, but return to the pitch on the road next week in Tampa, taking on a matchup at South Florida next Thursday.
- UTSA -