UTSA senior defender Sasjah Dade rose for a header from amongst a crowd inside the penalty area. There were less than 40 seconds left and the occasion represented her team’s final scoring opportunity.

Dade’s attempt barely sailed over the crossbar. Thirty-three minutes earlier, Rice forward Leah Chancey found herself with a goal-scoring opportunity. She converted on her chance.

Chancey’s score in the 57th minute lifted the Owls past UTSA 1-0 Sunday in American Athletic Conference play at Park West Complex.

“I thought we were the better team for large portions and created better chances than they did, but they finished the one really good chance they get,” UTSA coach Derek Pittman said. “(The ball) falls to the feet of the one player we talked about that can’t have the ball. We switch off defensively on a set piece and she buries it and punishes us for it.”

For the Roadrunners (6-5-1 overall, 1-3 in conference), it was another tough setback vs. an opponent at or near the top of conference standings. They also suffered one-goal losses to nationally-ranked Memphis and Alabama-Birmingham.

“I feel like in this conference, we know that there are no games that are going to be easy for us,” UTSA sophomore midfielder Sophie Morrin said. “We have to come out firing every game.
It just shows you that one chance you switch off, you can get punished for it. I think set pieces in this conference are huge because open play is a 50-50 match.”

Chancey’s game-winner marked the seventh consecutive match in which she scored a goal, tying a school record first established in 2014. A focus of the Roadrunners’ defensive game plan, Chancey was limited in her opportunities after an early threat 2 1/2 minutes into the contest.

However, she found enough space early in the second half to run onto a pass from freshman forward Camille Quarterman and ripped a shot into the upper right corner to send the Owls (9-3-1, 3-1) to their 14th win in 17 meetings vs. UTSA.

“I was feeling a little bit of a pressure because I knew there was a record that was going to be broken,” said Chancey, a graduate transfer from SMU. “Right when I started thinking like that, I got my negative thoughts out of my head and started thinking positively. If it happens, it happens. If I have the privilege to score the goal, then I will score it. Once I got the ball at my feet, I knew I was going to beat the girl and shoot the ball. I just didn’t know if it was going to go in, but I was lucky enough for it to go in.”

UTSA wasn’t as fortunate. It had its share of scoring chances, including a first-half goal by senior midfielder Olivia Alvarez that was waived off for offside, but couldn’t capitalize.

“We’re getting chances, it’s just unlucky,” UTSA sophomore midfielder Michelle Polo said. “I know we’re still capable of pushing through this. This is not who we are. I’m still really proud of how we fought, but we can definitely play better than this.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1