“Gritty” has been coach Derek Pittman’s choice of word to describe other university’s tactics, his coaching philosophy but most of all, his team. There is a good chance that anyone who has spoken to Pittmnan or heard him speak to others has heard him use his favorite word. Grit is what he tries to instill and convey to the women who play for UTSA’s soccer team and he seemingly succeeds in doing just so.
UTSA’s soccer team has had a steady start to its second season in the American Athletic Conference. With four wins and two losses on their belt, Pittman is getting an idea of what needs to be improved before the team moves on to conference play.
“Definitely excited about the rest of the season, but we know what we did tonight is not good enough to be in the conference,” Pittman said after their win against St. Mary’s.
Following a subpar win against St. Mary’s, Pittman knew that the team had to be more aggressive if they wanted to beat the Cougars and keep winning. Despite their change in tune, the Roadrunners suffered a loss against University of Houston on Thursday but recovered with a win on Sunday during their first ever matchup against Colorado State.
“We’ve got to get better. We’ll pick ourselves up, hopefully build some confidence, watch some film and continue to grow and develop, and that’s what it’s all about,” Pittman said of how the team will gear up for conference play.
The ‘Runners’ whole approach has changed this year, and there is no better time to work on reshaping a team’s dynamic than when you can approach this time as if it were new, and it nearly is. 14 players have returned from the 23’ season but the team ushers in 16 newcomers this fall, four of which have already scored goals this season. Junior defender Zoë May, junior center back Kameron Kloza, junior forward Izzy Lane and freshman midfielder Bri Carrigan have all proved that betting on themselves and choosing UTSA was the right decision to make for their collegiate career.
New additions to his roster isn’t the only thing Pittman has changed. One of Pittman’s new approaches was opening the season with a new 3-5-2 formation. By positioning three central defenders in front and two attacking wing-backs in front of goal, Pittman has transformed the team to play in a highly defensive manner. The idea behind this tactic is that less field space will be used against UTSA while they look to attack their opponent’s third.
This kind of formation has led to a successful start of the season for the Roadrunners (4-2). After keeping Colorado State at bay during Sunday’s matchup, UTSA looks to finish strong in its final non-conference match on September 8.
