The UTSA Roadrunner soccer team turned in a strong performance in their home opener Friday Sept. 16 as they routed Prairie View A&M Panthers 7-0.
The Roadrunners took control of the game from the opening kick. The midfield and defense did a nice job of keeping the ball on the Panthers side of the field and feeding the forwards for several early scoring opportunities.
After a barrage of shots from the Roadrunners, they finally broke through in the 24th minute on a beautiful piece of soccer from sophomore Layalla da Cruz and freshman Liv Nyhegn. Cruz and Nyhegn executed the give and go to perfection, and Nyhegn blasted a shot past Panther keeper Bianca Garza to give UTSA their first lead of the night 1-0.
The score remained at 1-0 at halftime despite UTSA pouring on 16 shots, but it didn’t take long for them to get going in the 2nd half.
Roadrunner sophomore Lindsay South lofted a cross that found Nyhegn in perfect position to score. She buried the ball in the back of the net with a vicious diving header out of Garza’s reach in the 51st minute.
Nyhegn’s second strike was only the tip of the iceberg for the ‘runners.
Sophomore Maria Jose Rojas was brought down inside the box in the 55th minute and awarded a penalty. Sophomore Anka Grotle was called upon to take the kick, and she made the most of her opportunity to give the Roadrunners a commanding 3-0 lead.
Senior Jodi Leroy connected on a long-range strike in the 64th minute to make the score 4-0 and put the game well out of the reach of the Panthers claws. Other scorers for UTSA were sophomore Valentina Lefort, freshman Annie Munson and senior Taylor Padia.
UTSA improved to 2-5 on the season while Prairie View A&M dropped to 0-8.
UTSA battled to a 3-3 tie on at home on Sunday against UTEP despite jumping out to a three-goal lead.
South struck first for the Roadrunners in the 7th minute after she knocked in her own ricochet off a UTEP defender to give her team an early 1-0 lead.
After the first goal, both teams battled evenly until the 29th minute when sophomore Anka Grotle headed in a cross to increase UTSA’s lead to 2-0 with 15 minutes to go before halftime. The score remained 2-0 at half.
Sophomore Maria Jose Roja scored in the 58th minute to extend UTSA’s lead to 3-0 and seemingly put the game out of reach, but there was no quit in the Miners.
Mackenzie German started the comeback effort by scoring in the 63rd minute. The teams played back and forth until the 83rd minute, when Azia Nicholoson found the back of the net with seven minutes remaining to inch within one goal, 3-2.
With time winding down, it looked like the Roadrunners would still escape with victory. But with just one minute remaining, Lauren Kantada blasted a shot into the top corner of the net to tie the game 3-3.
Both teams had their opportunities in extra time, but neither came away with the game-clinching goal.
UTSA moved to 2-5-1 on the season and while UTEP’s record stands at 6-2-1.
UTSA’s next game is at home on Friday Sept. 23 against Weber State. Kickoff is slated for 7p.m.
