SAN ANTONIO – Locking in the results of intense pressure on the visiting Florida Atlantic Owls (6-9-4, 4-6-0 AMER), redshirt sophomore Olivia Christodoulides buried the game-winning goal in the 36th minute for UTSA soccer (8-5-5, 4-4-2 AMER) to earn the regular season finale victory (7-4-5, 3-3-2 AMER). The 1-0 finish earned the Roadrunners their third consecutive win over the Owls and locked up a spot in the American Championships field for the second consecutive season – granting UTSA a chance to defend its tournament title from a year ago.
UTSA was distinctly the aggressor from the opening kick, containing Florida Atlantic’s attack and maintaining a 57 percent possession advantage in the opening period – allowing the Owls into the attacking third just 11 percent of the half and only two total shots. Meanwhile, UTSA kept the FAU defenders busy with seven shots in the opening stanza.
In the 36th minute, Sofia Peters gathered the ball deep in UTSA territory and booted a long pass over two-thirds of the field ahead to Christodoulides, racing past front edge of the Owls’ penalty box. Christodoulides cut inside to beat her defender, slicing into the box and firing a nine-yard shot off her right foot that found the left side of the net for her first career goal – proving with time to be the game-winner.
Led by the expected efforts of top shooter Hailey Santiago, the Owls exerted more pressure while trailing after halftime, adding 11 second-half shots. However, all three on-goal attempts were snuffed out by senior goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler to preserve the 1-0 victory and secure her 20th career shutout.
Redshirt sophomore Bri Carrigan also proved troublesome for the Owls, logging a team-high four shots, while redshirt junior Sabrina Taber and sophomore Brooklyn Bailey added a pair toward UTSA’s 11 shots.
In goal with her 30th career win, Kessler collected four more saves to keep the sheet clean.
Goals
FAU: None
UTSA: Olivia Christodoulides (36’)
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
“I’m extremely proud of this team and their focus, dedication and commitment to each other; especially coming out of a difficult result at North Texas on Friday. I asked them to give everything they had and put in a performance they would be proud of, and they did exactly that. We had some players step up in some roles that they traditionally don’t play, and the execution of the game plan, the belief in the plan and each other, was fantastic. It was a lot of fun to see our players be at the level that they were tonight to put ourselves back in the tournament.”
UP NEXT: With UTSA fully securing its place in the field for the American Championships, the tournament will run from Nov. 8-14 at the Premier Sports Campus in Lakewood Ranch, Fla.
- UTSA -