UTSA soccer players Jasmine Kessler, Zoe May, Michelle Polo on AAC preseason watch list

Jasmine Kessler. UTSA women's soccer lost to North Texas 2-0 on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at UTSA Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Jasmine Kessler playing against North Texas on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, at UTSA Park West. – photo by Joe Alexander
The American Athletic Conference released its preseason watch list for women’s soccer.

The list includes three UTSA players:

Jasmine Kessler – junior goalkeeper from Spring, Texas

Zoe May – senior midfielder from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Michelle Polo – junior midfielder from Magnolia, Texas

The American Athletic Conference also released its preseason women’s soccer poll.
1. Memphis
2. South Florida
3. Rice
4. East Carolina
5. North Texas
6. Tulsa
7. UAB
8. UTSA
9. Florida Atlantic
10. Charlotte
11. Temple

Zoe May. UTSA women's soccer lost to Tulsa 2-1 on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, at Park West Athletics Complex. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Zoe May playing against Tulsa on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, at Park West Athletics Complex.
Michelle Polo. UTSA women's soccer beat St. Mary's 1-0 at UTSA Park West Athletics Complex on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Michelle Polo playing against St. Mary’s on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2025, at Park West Athletics Complex.

UTSA women’s soccer preparing for opening weekend with revamped roster

UTSA women's soccer senior Zoe May and coach Derek Pittman during their first news conference of the season on Monday on ESPN+.
UTSA women’s soccer senior Zoe May and coach Derek Pittman during their first news conference of the season on Monday on ESPN+.
UTSA’s women’s soccer team has hit the field twice in the late summer for exhibition games.

The Roadrunners recorded a preseason home-field victory over A&M-Corpus Christi and a preseason road loss to 19th ranked Texas.

UTSA’s first 2025 game that counts will be at home at Park West on Thursday at 7 p.m. against Houston. The Roadrunners follow that up with another home game on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. against ninth-ranked TCU.

Coach Derek Pittman and UTSA senior midfielder Zoe May took time on Monday to answer questions as part of the program’s weekly news conference on ESPN+.

“We want to score goals. We want to play aggressively,” Pittman said. “We got to see that in the opening game against Corpus Christi.

“And then even against University of Texas last weekend, I thought it was really positive. We went in there with the intention to put our best foot forward and played our game. I thought we did an excellent job of that – disrupting them in many ways. A bit unfortunate to not score a goal ourselves but we learned quite a bit from that game. It’s going to be able to set us up going into a really difficult week against Houston and TCU.”

May is in her second season at UTSA. Last season she was one of the new faces in the Roadrunners’ lineup after transferring from Memphis. She enters this season as one of the most experienced players on a roster with a lot of new players.

“It’s extremely exciting,” May said. “We have 12 new girls, a lot of freshmen and transfers. It’s definitely some new faces but the energy on the field is unmatched since any team I’ve ever been on really. You can feel it on the bench even, in the locker room, just hanging out with the girls.

“It’s been a lot of fun. We have really great chemistry. It all clicks. So I think really getting faced with these difficult teams raises the level of competitiveness for us and makes us excited to go out every practice to give it our all to prepare for them. I know we’re ready. We’re excited.”

UTSA had an 8-7-3 record last season. The Roadrunners’ first American Athletic Conference game of 2025 is Sept. 11, on the road against Florida Atlantic. Their first conference home game is Sept. 18 against North Texas.

UTSA women’s soccer 2025 roster loaded with young players

UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 6-0 in a women's soccer exhibition on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at UTSA Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 6-0 in a women’s soccer exhibition on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at UTSA Park West. – photo by Joe Alexander
The 2025 UTSA women’s soccer team saw its first action against another squad on Sunday.

The Roadrunners beat A&M-Corpus Christi 6-0 in an exhibition at UTSA Park West.

The UTSA roster lists 17 players as either freshman or redshirt freshman – giving the team lots of new faces.

There also a number of familiar faces including seniors Kameron Kloza, Haley Lopez, Zoe May, Rylee Miller and Izzy Lane.

UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 6-0 in a women's soccer exhibition on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at UTSA Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 6-0 in a women’s soccer exhibition on Sunday.

UTSA goalkeepers Jasmine Kessler, Brilynn Mueller, Jaelyn Bracamonte split game time in exhibition

UTSA freshman goalkeepers Jaelyn Bracamonte (left) and Brilynn Mueller warm up before Sunday's women's soccer exhibition game against A&M-Corpus Christi at UTSA Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA freshman goalkeepers Jaelyn Bracamonte (left) and Brilynn Mueller warm up before Sunday’s women’s soccer exhibition game against A&M-Corpus Christi at UTSA Park West. – photo by Joe Alexander
All three goaltenders on the UTSA roster got 30 minutes of playing time in the Roadrunners’ exhibition on Sunday.

UTSA beat A&M-Corpus Christi 6-0 in a women’s soccer match that was broken up into three 30-minute periods.

Jasmine Kessler, UTSA’s returning starter from last season, played the first 30 minutes. Kessler is a junior from Klein Collins High in Spring, Texas.

Brilynn Mueller was in goal for the second 30 minutes. She is a freshman from Liberty, Missouri.

Jaelyn Bracamonte played the final 30 minutes. She is a freshman from Clear Lake High School in Houston.

With UTSA dominating most of the night, none of the three goaltenders faced a lot of pressure.

Kessler made her mark early on the offensive end. She scored on a free kick from midfield for UTSA’s first goal of the night.

Brooklyn Bailey’s hat trick leads UTSA women’s soccer in exhibition victory

Brooklyn Bailey scored UTSA's third goal in the 48th minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
Brooklyn Bailey scored UTSA’s third goal in the 48th minute, one of her three goals on the night, in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday at Park West. – photo by Joe Alexander
Brooklyn Bailey grabbed the spotlight in her first outing for UTSA.

The freshman forward from Klein Oak High School in Spring, Texas, scored three goals as UTSA recorded a 6-0 women’s soccer exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi.

UTSA also got goals from Jasmine Kessler, Michelle Polo and Ava Jackson.

Kessler, the Roadrunners’ returning starter at goalkeeper, powered in UTSA’s first goal on a free kick from midfield in the fourth minute. Kessler is a junior from Klein Collins High School in Spring,

Bailey made it 2-0 with a goal in the 22nd minute and 3-0 in the 48th minute.

Michelle Polo scored off an assist from Leah Varela in the 59th minute to extend the lead to 4-0 in the 59th minute. Polo is a junior from Magnolia, Texas, and started in 14 games last season for UTSA. Varela is a redshirt freshman from Rio Rancho, N.M.

Bailey scored her third and final goal of the night in the 67th minute to make it 5-0.

Ava Jackson scored UTSA’s final goal in the 81st minute. Jackson is a redshirt freshman from Burnaby British, Columbia.

The Roadrunners play again Friday at 7 p.m. on the road against Texas.

UTSA’s regular-season home opener is Aug. 14, at 7:30 p.m. against Houston.

Roadrunners goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler scored UTSA's first goal in the fourth minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
Roadrunners goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler scored UTSA’s first goal in the fourth minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi.
Brooklyn Bailey scored UTSA's second goal in the 22nd minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
Brooklyn Bailey scored UTSA’s second goal in the 22nd minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi.
Michelle Polo scored UTSA's fourth goal in the 59th minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
Michelle Polo scored UTSA’s fourth goal in the 59th minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi.
Brooklyn Bailey scored UTSA's fifth goal in the 67th minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
Brooklyn Bailey scored UTSA’s fifth goal in the 67th minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi.
Ava Jackson scored UTSA's sixth goal in the 81st minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi on Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, at Park West. - photo by Joe Alexander
Ava Jackson scored UTSA’s sixth goal in the 81st minute in a 6-0 exhibition victory over A&M-Corpus Christi.

CELEBRATING AFTER THE GOALS

Former UTSA guard Kyra White joins women’s basketball staff

Kyra White played two seasons for UTSA after transferring from USC. - photo by Joe Alexander
Kyra White played two seasons for UTSA after transferring from USC. – photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA women’s basketball announced former UTSA player Kyra White is returning to the Roadrunners as Director of Operations.

The former guard from Converse, Texas, played two seasons at UTSA and averaged 7.8 points and 4.5 assists in 32 games in 2022-23 and 9.9 points 4.8 assists in 33 games in 2023-24.

Maxwell Award watch list includes UTSA quarterback Owen McCown

Owen McCown at UTSA spring practice in March, 2025. - photo by Joe Alexander
Owen McCown at UTSA spring practice in March, 2025. – photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA quarterback Owen McCown is one of 80 players on the Maxwell Award Watch List, for the award presented to the outstanding player in college football.

McCown is a junior from Rusk, Texas. He passed for 3,424 yards and 24 touchdowns last season.

Official site: Maxwell Award

Shrine Bowl honors UTSA running back Robert Henry Jr.

Robert Henry Jr. at UTSA spring practice in March, 2025. - photo by Joe Alexander
Robert Henry Jr. at UTSA spring practice in March, 2025. – photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA running back Robert Henry Jr. has been named to the Shrine Bowl 1000 – the list of players currently eligible for the 2026 East-West Shrine Bowl.

Henry is a senior from Lumberton, Miss. He rushed for 706 yards and 7 touchdowns last season.

Official site: shrinebowl.com/shrine-bowl-1000/

MLB teams sign UTSA baseball players Mason Lytle, Ty Hodge, James Taussig

Mason Lytle was a senior from Pearland, Texas. - photo by Joe Alexander
Mason Lytle was a senior from Pearland, Texas. – photo by Joe Alexander
UTSA’s Mason Lytle, Ty Hodge and James Taussig all signed contracts with Major League Baseball teams as undrafted free agents (UFA).

Lytle signed with the Houston Astros. He batted .366 with 10 home runs as a senior outfielder.

Hodge signed with the Boston Red Sox. He batted .292 with six home runs as a redshirt junior infielder.

Taussig signed with the Chicago White Sox. He batted .344 with 10 home runs as a senior outfielder.

Ty Hodge was a redshirt junior from College Station, Texas. - photo by Joe Alexander
Ty Hodge was a redshirt junior from College Station, Texas. – photo by Joe Alexander
James Taussig was a senior from New York City, N.Y. - photo by Joe Alexander
James Taussig was a senior from New York City, N.Y. – photo by Joe Alexander