The UTSA Roadrunners (9-4-3, 3-2-2 C-USA) were in action once again this past week. On Friday, Oct. 22, they fought the UAB Blazers (5-8-3, 3-3-1 C-USA) to a white-knuckle 1-1 draw and then on Sunday, Oct. 24, they capped off Senior Night by putting a beatdown on Trinity University (12-2-1) with a final score of 6-0. A UTSA offense that had been waiting for a breakthrough performance finally got it during the penultimate game of the season and appear to be in good form heading into the conference tournament in two weeks.

The game against UAB kicked off on Friday night, and UTSA found immediate success. In just the second minute of action, UTSA’s Alissa Stewart found a soft spot in the Blazers defense and sent a shot past keeper Eve Beyer for her second goal of the season to hand UTSA an early 1-0 lead. The ‘Runners continued to dominate play in the first half, but Beyer came up with a trio of saves to keep the Blazers in the game. Early in the second half, the Blazers ended up returning the favor to the ‘Runners. In the 47th minute, UAB’s Morgan Halliwill found some space and got a shot past UTSA keeper Jil Schneider to level the game at one. Emboldened, UAB pressed for the go-ahead goal, but Schneider and the UTSA defense held strong and the game went to sudden death overtime. In the overtime periods, both teams were measured in their approach, with neither generating much in the way of a dangerous scoring chance. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.

On Sunday, it was Senior Night and the ‘Runners honored forward Alyssa Blankenship, forward Ellis Patterson and Student Assistant Katie Becker, all graduating seniors. With the festivities out of the way, UTSA decided to keep the party atmosphere in the air by putting on a dominant performance against Trinity. In the 16th minute, Kiran Singh got things started by finishing off a brilliant set of passes with a deft touch and then firing the ball into the top right corner of the net past Trinity keeper Joanna Finley for the early 1-0 lead. That advantage doubled just four minutes later in the 20th minute when Kendall Kloza hit a world-class free kick that looped its way over the wall of players and into the top right corner of the net. The goals just kept coming for UTSA, and this time it was Anna Sutter’s turn. A cross into the box deflected off of Finley and to the waiting head of Sutter, who nodded the ball into the back of the net for her team-leading sixth goal of the season. Not content to be left out of the action on Senior Night, Patterson made a brilliant run down the left sideline in the 25th minute, rounding the corner and poking the ball past Finley to extend the lead to 4-0. 

In the second half, UTSA continued to show no mercy to their opponents. In the 55th minute, Isa Hernandez received a cross into the box, controlled it and fired a shot by Finley into the back of the net to take a 5-0 lead. In the 57th minute, Deja Sandoval added one of her own off a deflected shot, controlling the ball and depositing it into the net for a 6-0 edge. UTSA was content to play it out from there, and they capped off their season at home with a commanding 6-0 victory. 

UTSA will next be in action during their regular season finale. The ‘Runners will travel to Hattiesburg, MS, to take on the University of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (8-3-2, 4-1-2 C-USA). The game is slated for kickoff at 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22. Unfortunately, the game will not be available for remote viewing.