LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. – In a rematch of last year’s championship final, the fifth-seeded UTSA soccer team (8-6-5) concluded its 2026 campaign on Sunday night in the American Conference Championships quarterfinal at the Premier Sports Campus, as the Roadrunners came close on several chances but couldn’t secure the equalizer to overcome No. 4 Rice’s (7-7-5) early goal in the 1-0 loss.
Like so many meetings with the Owls across the Roadrunners’ longest opponent series, Sunday’s matchup was a tug of war from the opening kick to the final horn, marking the sixth in the last eight series outings decided by a goal or less.
With both teams on the attack, it was Rice that placed the early tick on the board, as freshman Valentina Labuschagne cut the ball back inside and netted her shot across the goal into the upper left corner in the eighth minute.
Two of the next three UTSA shots were saved by goalkeeper Kirsten Ruf, allowing the Owls to carry the advantage into half. At the break, shots were split evenly at 5-5 between the teams, and the Owls had three on-target attempts to the Roadrunners’ two.
Returning to the pitch out of halftime, the Roadrunners quickly ramped things up with a string of attacks beginning in the 51st minute, sparked by redshirt sophomore Olivia Christodoulides’ header wiped off the back line after she beat Ruf off the front post. Sophomore Brooklyn Bailey forced two Ruf saves in a two-minute stretch and had a third blocked a minute later. Soon, it was Rice back on the offensive with four shots in two minutes, but the Roadrunners fended off the pressure to maintain the one-score game.
Despite UTSA logging three solid on-target attempts in the second half just inches from knotting things up, the Owls managed to keep the Roadrunners off the board, holding on for the 1-0 win and advance to the semifinal.
After the early goal, senior goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler dismissed the Owls’ ensuing attempts with a stalwart performance, finishing her final career game by tying her season high with seven saves. Kessler closes her 71-game career with 260 saves in second on the all-time saves list, ranking second on the goals-against-average records at 0.95 and third on the save percentage list at .798.
Pacing the Roadrunner shooting, Bailey registered five shots with three on target, bringing her season total to 60 for the third-most shots in UTSA history, while breaking into the career top 10 after just her second year.
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
“Proud and gutted for our team tonight. We always have intense battles with Rice, and tonight was no different. They scored a top-class goal and we had a chance cleared off the line, among other quality chances stopped. In the end, it wasn’t enough to advance, but I’m extremely proud of the toughness our players showed throughout the entire season. We overcame a lot of challenges that will make us even stronger for next year. A huge thank you goes out to all of our incredible supporters for always cheering us on.”
- UTSA -