Photo Credit: Vince Cardenas

This past Sunday, Sept. 8, the UTSA Women’s Soccer team (1-0-5) took on Samford University (4-0-2) at the Park West Athletics Complex.

Coming off their loss at A&M Corpus Christi, captains Charlotte Husoe, Laylla Da Cruz and Happy Orere-Amadu led their team into battle. Unfortunately, the Roadrunners came up short, losing to the Bulldogs with a final score of 2-0.

UTSA goalkeeper Bubba Makela made two saves in the first half before Amanda Abbot made the first goal for Samford with an assist by Michelle Moll and Anna Allen in the 17th minute. In the 40th minute midfielder Kaytee O’Brien fouled a player on Samford while going up for a header and received a yellow card (the only card of the game). Makela went on to have two more saves in the first half, keeping the score a tight 1-0.

The Roadrunners came into the second half ready to dominate, maintaining possession in the attacking third for the majority of the last 45 minutes. Samford freshman goalkeeper Katie Peters stayed on her toes as the Roadrunners focused on their offense; five shots were taken in the second half, two on target by Laylla Da Cruz and Happy Orere-Amadu; both saved by Peters. Both teams were duking it out in the rain for much of the game; it was the sight of lightning that halted the match for 38 minutes.

After the lightning ceased, the match resumed with only 16 minutes left. Captain Orere-Amadu almost tied up the game with her power-driven shot hitting off the crossbar. Shortly after, Samford player Hallie Georgi went one-on-one with goalkeeper Makela, and scored in the 51st minute, securing the final goal of the game.

When asked about how he thought his team competed against the Bulldogs, UTSA Head Coach Steve Ballard replied, “I like the way we played and how hard we worked… and we seemed to learn during the game from their possession and what they did, and I think that’s important.”

Ballard remained positive about his team’s future.

“We have a tough weekend ahead in Kentucky, and the goal is just to compete, and continue to get better.”