UTSA women’s head soccer coach Derek Pittman is a goalkeeper by trade. His view of the sport has largely been framed through that prism. Pittman’s teams have been defined by their grit, toughness and relentlessness. It is a style that revolves around capitalizing on opportunities while also not allowing opponents many opportunities of their own.

But somewhere along the way, maybe during a change in conference affiliation or simply through natural evolution, the team’s mantra was somewhat altered. “Gritty, not pretty” has not only been a prescription for success but also a cool-sounding slogan. The sound these days, though, that perhaps has been as integral as anything in the Roadrunners’ hot start to this season — and could carry them a long way as they begin American Athletic Conference play this week — is the rippling of a ball hitting the back of a net.

UTSA (4-1-3) faces East Carolina (1-2-6 overall, 0-0-1 in the AAC) in its conference opener at 6 p.m. Thursday in Greenville, North Carolina, then plays at Charlotte at noon Sunday. The Roadrunners are the defending conference tournament champion and picked in a preseason league poll to finish second this year.

“I’m really happy where we are at this point and time,” Pittman said. “I think we’ve learned something about our team each time out on the field. It’s been really pleasing to see our kids get better every week, and our players grow in confidence and our style of play, and what we want to do. I know our kids are ready to get after it. Definitely not going to be an easy task going on the road for these two out in North Carolina. We know we’ve got our hands full.”

Coming off a 1-0 setback vs. two-time national champion Santa Clara in their final tune-up before conference play, the Roadrunners look to bounce back in a big way. The key in Thursday’s matchup might boil down to UTSA’s offense vs. East Carolina’s defense. The Pirates, led by Caitlen-Star Dolan Boodram, Lily Ridge, AJ Mayock and Isabella Gutierrez, have yielded only one goal per contest.

Through eight matches, UTSA has scored 16 goals (two per contest, No. 2 in the AAC). Only the inaugural 2006 squad (20 in eight games) and the 2022 Conference USA championship-winning and NCAA tournament-qualifying club (19 in eight matches) have scored more over the same stretch. The Roadrunners have scored at least two goals in a match this season on six occasions.

“I think we have a lot of attacking potential and talent here,” said redshirt sophomore forward Ava Jackson. “It’s really easy when you put us all on the field to get connections going and it’s just going to get stronger throughout the season.”

The scoring output has been bolstered by an attack that is deep, talented, varied and has options on seemingly every level on the field. Goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler scored a goal in UTSA’s 2-1 loss to Texas Tech in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament.

Sophomore forward Brooklyn Bailey and Jackson each have a team-high three goals. Freshmen Lilli Denhardt, redshirt freshman Dulci Binns and sophomore defender Sofia Peters have two goals apiece. Redshirt freshman Sadie Paul and freshman Amelia Clark have tallied one goal each. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Leah Varela has one goal and seven assists (No. 2 in NCAA Division I for overall assists and assists per game), while sophomore Caroline Pelkofski has three helpers. Senior Addi O’Kelley and redshirt junior Sabrina Taber, both midfielders, have chipped in one assist each. Junior defender Aaliyaiah Durden has scored once this season and had two goals during last year’s AAC tournament, including the tying tally in a miraculous 3-3 draw vs. unbeaten Memphis in the semifinals, in which UTSA rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the final 4 1/2 minutes of regulation and prevailed 3-1 on penalty kicks.

“It’s like I could literally play the ball to anyone and anyone can score, and I think that’s just the fun part,” Varela said. “We’re not relying on just one person or two people who can score. It’s just that confidence factor, like we all have bought into a mission and bought into the same thing every single day. It’s like I know when I step on the field, I could look around to whoever the starting 11 is, or even playmakers coming on, every single person that’s a part of the team, just having that immense confidence that we could step up and get those goals this year. And I think it’s shown.”

Such belief has helped UTSA overcome deficits to record draws vs. Texas State and TCU, both nationally ranked opponents. It helped them score the winning goal in the waning seconds on the road vs. East Texas A&M. And the Roadrunners have accomplished some of this despite injuries that have sidelined either for the season or for stretches such scoring threats as redshirt sophomore midfielder Bri Carrigan, freshman forward Claire Garritson and junior forward Shea Ryan, a transfer from Texas A&M who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the team’s final preseason exhibition.

“I’m a firm believer that you’ve got to go recruit goals and go recruit kids that have the hunger to be in those positions to put the ball in the back of the net,” Pittman said. “They’re all attacking-minded, aggressive kids that want to go forward and put that responsibility on their shoulders to go and score goals for us.”

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