SAN ANTONIO — UTSA soccer’s offense struggled to finish during its match against St. Mary’s University, while its steady defense could only hold the Rattlers at bay for so long. St. Mary’s forward Elena Kossler drilled a second-half goal that led to the Roadrunners losing 1-0 on Sunday at Park West Athletics Complex.
The Roadrunners looked sluggish, often making easy mistakes and failing to connect passes. Possession between the two teams was even throughout the game, but both neglected to capitalize on the chances they created. The Roadrunners’ defense continually served balls to the front line, but forwards were not successful in converting from the passes they were given. Similarly, St. Mary’s chances were mostly off-target or easily scooped up by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Jaelyn Bracamonte.
“We typically are a very gritty, tough team [and] competitive. Some of our mentality today from some of the players was a bit frustrating,” coach Derek Pittman said. “Losing 50/50 balls, typical balls that we are pouncing onto and making a difference of and trying to play some quality soccer out of that, we weren’t even getting to those balls because St. Mary’s was outworking us.”
The first half ended in a stalemate between the two teams. A hope for a break in the tie came in the 10th minute, when sophomore midfielder Emelie Eckman fired a shot from the top of the box, hitting the crossbar and bouncing down near the goal-line before it was scooped up by the Rattlers goalkeeper Quetza Garza.
At the start of the second half, it seemed for a moment that the Roadrunners might have found their footing. A fruitful 60th minute chance off a corner taken by redshirt freshman midfielder Leah Varela into a crowd of players showed promise, but Garza ultimately cleared out the ball.
The Rattlers’ goal, which came in the 68th minute of the game, defined the second half. Kossler drove her way through the Roadrunners’ defense and lobbed the ball over Bracamonte for the finish.
After the Rattlers’ goal, UTSA’s pace dropped, and its possessions became sloppy. The Roadrunners’ defense held strong, but the offense failed to find an equalizer. They struggled to put together meaningful plays, going back-and-forth with St. Mary’s in possession. The team seemed to regain its energy in the last few minutes, but ultimately, it was too late to make a difference.
“Our goal today was to finish this spring on a high note and actually show that we can put into place all the things that we’ve been working on. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that,” Pittman said. “I look at the spring as a bit of a race. How you finish it matters, and we didn’t finish it well. We limped across the finish line today. We got punched in the mouth for it.”
UTSA soccer will return in August for the 2026-27 season.
