The UTSA soccer team embraces a motto that represents its aspirations for each season. This year’s slogan is “forward from here.”

It’s the past, though, that the Roadrunners are contending with. Coming off a season in which it won a conference title and advanced to the NCAA tournament, UTSA is finding out what it’s like going from being the hunter to being the hunted.

The latest example came Thursday night when the Roadrunners fell to North Texas 2-0 in American Athletic Conference action at Park West Complex.

It was the first meeting between the rivals since the semifinals of the Conference USA tournament, which UTSA won 2-1.

“I wasn’t here last year because I just transferred in, but I know that this is a game that’s circled on everyone’s calendar as a rivalry from past years,” said North Texas fifth-year goalkeeper Maddie Ogden, who transferred from Colorado State. “A little bit of revenge there.”

Whether it’s opponents trying to settle old scores or knock off a reigning champion, the Roadrunners are getting everyone’s best shot.

“Coming off of last season, everybody has us circled on their list, so we know that everybody’s coming after us,” UTSA senior midfielder Sarina Russ said. “We talked a lot about attitude and effort and, especially today, we just kind of didn’t finish the chances we needed to and made some critical mistakes.”

North Texas (8-2 overall, 2-1 in AAC) took advantage of the miscues in a contest between teams listed in the latest United Soccer Coaches’ South Region rankings. North Texas is No. 3, UTSA is No. 8.

The biggest moment came with mere seconds left in the first half. North Texas led 1-0 and maintained the lead by withstanding a surge by the Roadrunners (5-5-2, 0-2-1), which included five corner kicks and shots from forwards Olivia Alvarez and Jordan Walker and defender Deja Sandoval.

Ogden uncorked a free kick from near midfield that sailed over the reach of UTSA goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler.

“I was just trying to put it on frame,” Ogden said of her first college goal. “Usually, even if it doesn’t go in the goal, it’ll maybe hit off the crossbar, hit off the goalkeeper, and we’ll get a good chance there. I was just trying to put it in the mixer, and it ended up with a good outcome.”

Ogden’s tally was a gut-punch for UTSA, which had appeared to recover from yielding a goal in the 12th minute by Summer Brown off assists from Jenna Sheely and Rachel Roebuck, who previously had signed with Incarnate Word.

The Roadrunners created a few scoring chances in the second half but were held scoreless for the fourth straight match. They are 0-3-1 during the span.

“Everybody always talks about 2-0 is the most dangerous score in soccer, so we knew that we just needed to come out and fight to get that first goal,” Russ said. “Obviously, things didn’t go our way. We have a lot of fight in our team and, right now, we just need to prepare for next week.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1