In the 10 months since a breakthrough season ended with a heartbreaking, sudden-death loss in overtime at the Conference USA women’s soccer tournament, UTSA has a newfound existence.

The Roadrunners are viewed as a serious contender, no longer a squad to be overlooked. How they handle the new identity will likely determine the fate of the season. This past weekend produced promising results.

Propelled by a relentless attack and stout defense, UTSA dominated from start to finish and rocked Texas Southern 7-0 on a humid Sunday at Park West Complex. The win came three days after the team admitted that the weight of the lofty expectations might have been a hurdle in a scoreless draw vs. Houston Baptist in the season opener.

“I thought Thursday we did a lot of things really well, we just didn’t attack in the right areas,” said UTSA coach Derek Pittman, whose club returned most of the roster from a year ago when it advanced to the C-USA tournament for the first time and reached the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Old Dominion 1-0 in overtime. “We really, honestly, looked desperate and frantic in front of goal, which hurried shots, and we made some decisions otherwise we shouldn’t have. We were a little bit unlucky. We hit the post twice; hit the crossbar.

“Today, I thought we followed the game plan much better, which was simply to get the ball wide, get around them, and get easy opportunities. It was definitely nice to see us put some balls in the back of the net and make up for some missed opportunities that we had on Thursday.”

The Roadrunners (1-0-1) put the contest away with a four-goal outburst during a 14-minute stretch early in the first half. They added three goals in the second half, including two in 48 seconds during the first 2 1/2 minutes of the stanza.

Alissa Stewart had two goals, including the game-winner, Abby Kassal and Anna Sutter each had one goal and two assists, Kiran Singh had a goal and an assist, while Marlee Fray and Isa Hernandez contributed a goal apiece. Kendall Kloza and Sasjah Dade notched an assist apiece.

It was performance that was a respite for Thursday’s match vs. Houston Baptist, when UTSA held a 27-7 advantage in shots but was unable to find the back of the net.

“I think once we got the first-game jitters out, we were able to come out today and produce a lot of shots and a lot of good goals; get a lot of players in,” Stewart said after she led an offense that outshot Texas Southern 39-1 (15-1 on attempts that were on target). “It was a fun day overall. I think we were definitely doing better of finishing them today, taking more opportunities, where I think on Thursday we weren’t able to produce as much.”

UTSA kept Texas Southern (0-2) on its heels throughout as goalkeepers Mia Krusinski and Jil Schneider, who each played a half, were never threatened in the Roadrunners’ second straight shutout.

“Our players are definitely learning to deal with the expectations,” Pittman said. “They know what we’re capable of. Everyone has the attitude that we want to win and be successful and now living up to that and ultimately going out and performing in that matter is always the challenge. But it’s the pressure that we want. It’s a privilege to be in that situation — we worked hard for it — and now it’s a matter of being able to handle it.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1