UTSA lost to two-time NCAA champion Santa Clara 1-0 last week.
“I’m really happy with where we are at this point in time,” UTSA coach Derrick Pittman said in his weekly news conference on ESPN+. “I thought it’s been a really strong stretch of eight games, 10 games if we include the exhibitions.
“I think we’ve learned something as a team each and every time out on the field. I think we’ve continued to improve each and every week. I thought our performance against Santa Clara was really positive – the outcome wasn’t quite what we had hoped.”
UTSA’s (4-1-3) first conference match is on the road against East Carolina on Thursday at 6 p.m. (Central). TV is on ESPN+
The Roadrunners play on the road again Sunday against Charlotte at noon (Central). TV is on ESPN+
“I think the energy and enthusiasm of the group ready to start conference play this week is exciting, refreshing,” Pittman said. “I know our kids are ready to get after it.
“It’s definitely not going to be an easy task going on the road for these two in North Carolina. East Carolina is a very talented group and so is Charlotte. We know we have our hands full and we’ve got to prepare to be our best so we can go out and perform to our best each and every league game.”
UTSA has outscored its opponents 16-9 on the season. Ava Jackson and Brooklyn Bailey lead the Roadrunners with three goals each and Sofia Peters, Dulci Binns and Lilli Denhardt have two each. Leah Varela leads UTSA in points with nine on seven assists and one goal.
Jasmine Kessler has started every game in goal for UTSA and has one shutout.
East Carolina is 1-2-6 on the season (0-1-3 at home, 0-0-1 in conference). The Pirates opened conference play last week with a 1-1 tie on the road against Tulsa. Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram scored East Central’s goal.
Charlotte is 4-4 on the season and 0-1 in conference. The 49ers are coming off a 3-2 road loss to Florida Atlantic in their conference opener. Evie Craven scored both Charlotte goals. Charlotte has a home game Thursday against North Texas before its meeting with UTSA.