UTSA junior forward Olivia Alvarez raced toward the ball, knowing that time was running out and a prime — and perhaps, final — scoring opportunity had presented itself.

With the second-largest home crowd of the season looking on in anticipation, Alvarez volleyed a shot at the goal. The ball traveled just above the crossbar. The final seven seconds ticked off the clock.

The Roadrunners and Florida Atlantic played to a scoreless draw Thursday in a key American Athletic Conference contest before 1,206 spectators at Park West Complex.

“I knew there was only a couple of seconds left in the game, and I was close enough to the goal, and I took it,” Alvarez said. “I did think it was going in.”

It didn’t, demonstrating how cruel soccer can be at times. The scoreboard didn’t tell the story of how dominant the Roadrunners were on Thursday. But it did tell the tale of their season.

An inch lower, a tad to the left or right, or a goalkeeper not playing the game of her life, and things could be decisively different.

UTSA (6-6-4 overall, 1-3-3 in conference) outshot Florida Atlantic 11-2 and attempted a season-high 11 corner kicks in the first meeting between the teams since the Roadrunners prevailed 3-2 in overtime last November to win the Conference USA tournament title and earn a trip to the NCAA tournament.

But Florida Atlantic goalkeeper Lexi Gonzalez, who hails from McAllen and transferred from Arkansas, denied each attempt. She stymied at least three breakaways and two other attempts where she made reflect stops en route to a career-best performance.

“That keeper had a really good game, so props to her,” said UTSA junior forward Jordan Walker, who had scored a goal in each of the previous two games and had a one-on-one opportunity in the 16th minute and a point-blank header off a corner kick in the 51st minute thwarted by Gonzalez. “I think we had great opportunities. We just need to throw our bodies in front of that and finish those.”

UTSA doesn’t have long to dwell on what might have been. The Roadrunners are two points behind North Texas (8-4-2, 2-3-2) for the final spot in the AAC tournament with two matches remaining. They play second-place South Florida in their home finale on Sunday and travel to Rice on Oct. 23 for the season finale. North Texas, which defeated UTSA 2-0 on Sept. 28, closes by hosting East Carolina on Sunday and SMU on Oct. 23.

“Next game’s huge,” said Walker, the reigning AAC offensive player of the week. “We’ve been putting in the work. We’re getting out here, we’re getting shots, we’re hitting the back of the net. We’re doing all the important stuff and little things, and it’s adding up. We’re getting the results we need.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1