UTSA soccer and Rice University had a vicious conference game against each other on Sunday, with the Owls taking the win 0-1.
The ‘Runners (6-4-1, 1-2 AAC) were coordinated as a team and relied on each other as the Owls (8-2-1, 3-1 AAC) defense and offense followed an aggressive strategy.
Headed into this game, the Roadrunners were coming off a loss against the University of Memphis.
In the first half, UTSA made six shot attempts, all of which were deflected by the Owls. One of those attempts was by ‘Runners senior forward Olivia Alvarez. Despite getting the goal, Alvarez was offside, so points were not rewarded.
Both teams spent a majority of the game in center field, fighting for control of the ball.
“We changed our formation to a box in the middle,” senior defender Sasjah Dade said. “To give us more numbers in the midfield so we could have a better counter. We were moving the ball pretty well.”
In the second half, Rice goalkeeper Faith Hutchins made a goal kick which was then received by midfielder Leah Chancey who then scored on ‘Runners sophomore goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler by shooting above her head as Kessler attempted to block.
Leading in shot attempts coming out of the first half, UTSA continued its aggressive strategy, yet didn’t manage to score.
“We need to be aggressive, we need to be organized in how we defend to limit other teams’ chances,” coach Derek Pittman said. “I thought we did that a lot today. We wanted to be aggressive on the attack. That has been our strategy all season. I think it’s been positive but today it just didn’t bear any fruit.”
UTSA will play University of North Texas at 7 p.m. Thursday at Mean Green Soccer Stadium.
