Alyssa Blankenship could have moved on with her life. She could have focused solely on her academics or maybe even looked to begin a 9-to-5 existence.

But the UTSA women’s soccer program had already come so far, and Blankenship wanted to be around when seeds planted a few years ago to change both the culture and results came to fruition.

Two days ago, at the Park West Complex, the Roadrunners went through the paces of a late October practice. Usually, the team would be preparing for the conclusion of another season that came up short on the desired goal. This time, the moment was about basking in a breakthrough — UTSA was headed to the Conference USA tournament for the first time.

The Roadrunners (9-4-4) play North Texas (8-4-4) at 3:30 p.m. Monday in the opening round of the C-USA tournament in Boca Raton, Fla.

“In the past, we would’ve been playing for nothing,” said Blankenship, a former Brandeis High School standout who is playing a fifth season after being award an addition season by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “But now, we know we’re going to Florida, and we have something to prove.”

UTSA has already proven a lot this season. It recorded its best start in program history, held its own vs. nationally-ranked opponents Texas Tech and Oklahoma State during non-conference play, earned a rare win vs. Rice and battled for the top spot in the Conference USA West Division.

“I think we had hoped to do this in (2020), but no one anticipated what the pandemic would create,” UTSA coach Derek Pittman said. “It really comes down to the belief and the buy-in from the players. (I’m) just really proud of our players.”

The impetus to the landmark campaign perhaps came in May 2018. Pittman was hired following a successful stint at Idaho, where he won two Big Sky Conference regular-season crowns in four years, and at his first team meeting at the Park West Complex asked his new players to write down the good, bad and ugly about the program.

Nearly two hours later, after compiling a long list, the players came up with core values that hoped would turned around the program’s fortunes — team, grit, integrity. The three words are stitched on the players’ jerseys as a constant reminder.

“I’ll never forget that day,” Blankenship said. “It was great. We were excited for the change. We needed the change.”

The impact was swift. In his first year with the Roadrunners, Pittman led the team to a 6-9-2 record, doubling the win total from the year before. In 2019, the Roadrunners finished 8-8-1, their first non-losing season since 2011. UTSA went 3-7-1 in 2020 as it played an abbreviated spring season because of the coronavirus pandemic, but lost five matches by a goal or in overtime.

UTSA this fall registered their first winning season since going 13-8-2 in 2010, winning the Southland Conference title and advancing to the NCAA Division I tournament. The Roadrunners lost 9-0 in the first round to Portland, which was ranked No. 2 in the nation and featured a roster that included future NWSL players Sophie Schmidt, Michelle Cruz, Amanda Frisbie and Keelin Winters.

“We were just used to being the losing team,” Blankenship said. “We automatically thought we were out of the game before the game even started. If I would have envisioned this team (when I was a freshman in 2017), I wouldn’t have even thought about where we are right now, just the growth that this program has had in the past five years. I just didn’t want to leave the program and not experience the winning mentality.”

The newfound success has given UTSA a drawing power. The Roadrunners have landed players from Florida, Wyoming, Switzerland, California, Colorado, Canada, Washington, New Mexico, Arizona and Nevada. They’ve also landed players from Power-5 schools.

Abby Kassal, a redshirt forward/midfielder, transferred in 2019 from North Carolina State, which competes in the ultra-competitive Atlantic Coast Conference with the likes of powerhouses North Carolina, Florida State, Virginia, Duke, Boston College and Notre Dame. Sabrina Hillyer found her way to the Alamo City last spring after playing for Arizona in the Pac-12, which includes powerhouses Stanford, UCLA and Southern California.

Both have found comfort and motivation at UTSA.

“I want to be a part of something special, that’s growing, making history every step along the way,” said Hillyer, a redshirt sophomore defender from Katy. “I trust in the process. I think we’re going big places.”

Kassal, a redshirt junior midfielder/forward, agreed.

“It’s different than coming from a powerhouse that’s been around for 50 years,” said Kassal, who tallied the game-winning goal on a penalty kick in the Roadrunners’ 1-0 overtime win vs. North Texas that helped the team rebound from a 0-2 conference start by going unbeaten in its final six league contests (3-0-3). “We’ve been here for 10 years and the progress we’ve made has been huge. It’s more difficult for us to make a name for ourselves, but it’s even more exciting seeing us get success and the team doing so well. It’s an amazing feeling to be here. It’s great to see all of the really hard work the team put in come to fruition.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1