The Roadrunners weren’t able to put the ball into the net and finished with a 0-0 tie with Houston in the opener of the 2025 women’s soccer schedule at Park West.
UTSA goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler made seven saves and recorded her 11th career shutout.
The Roadrunners took 10 shots on the night. That including three shots on goal: one each by Aaliyaiah Durden, Izzy Lane and Bryn Maxwell.
Brooklyn Bailey had UTSA’s late penalty kick attempt. That came in the final minute of the game on a play that started with a Kameron Kloza free kick led to Ava Jackson being taken down at the edge of the box.
There was a strong breeze out of the south all night. UTSA had the wind at its back the first half and Houston had the wind advantage in the second half. Neither team was to convert that into a goal.
UTSA returns to action at home on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. against ninth-ranked TCU.
From coach Derek Pittman postgame:
I’m extremely proud of our team. We’re tough as hell, honestly.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for their coaching staff and what Ben (Williams), Peter (Mulamba) and their staff are going to do for that team as they move into the Big 12.
I thought our team showed a tremendous amount of resilience and tremendous amount of toughness tonight. It wasn’t our best soccer. We understand that. But you cannot doubt our commitment and our kids’ character on the field and giving effort and really doing a good job.
They had a chance at the end to win it. It would have been nice, the cherry on top. That does not change my opinion of how tough our kids are.
PITTMAN ON PLAYING AGAINST THE WIND IN THE SECOND HALF:
We were hoping the wind would die as the night went on because that’s normally what happens here in San Antonio. Normally we would have been all right.
We didn’t take enough chances in the first half. We should have pulled the trigger more. We were a little bit on the back foot and not as good quality wise.
We knew our backs were going to be against the wall in the second half. I was really proud of our kids and how they responded because I thought we created just as many if not better chances in the second half off the counter attack.
It’s a lot to build on. A lot to take away from this game. We’ll win some of these close ones for sure.
