In April, against the same opponent, on the same field, with much cooler weather, and without fanfare, the UTSA women’s soccer team was served a reality check.

St. Mary’s topped the Roadrunners 1-0 four months ago in the final match of the spring season. Back then, UTSA was meshing returning players and newcomers. It was a listless performance that UTSA coach Derek Pittman that day deemed unacceptable and implored his players to use it as a reminder of the perils of not respecting an opponent as they spent the following months gearing for an upcoming season.

The Roadrunners, with a recent video review of the match used as fuel, showed on Sunday that they learned their lesson.

Highly-regarded freshman midfielder Amelia Clark scored a spectacular goal and assisted on another as UTSA breezed past St. Mary’s 4-1 in a non-conference encounter at the Park West Complex.

“I think we were pretty disappointed, and we didn’t want that to happen again,” sophomore midfielder Caroline Pelkofski, a transfer from South Florida, said of the loss in the spring.

The Roadrunners (2-0-2) scored the match’s final three goals on Sunday to break open a contest that was tied 1-1 only 20 minutes into play. UTSA redshirt sophomore forward Ava Jackson scored a goal for the third match in a row, blasting a shot that snuck underneath St. Mary’s goalkeeper Molly Lyons for a 1-0 advantage. Redshirt sophomore midfielder Leah Varela and sophomore forward Brooklyn Bailey assisted the goal. Six minutes later, St. Mary’s Helen Lazaro made it 1-1 when she rocketed a shot into the upper right corner.

“Proud of our players,” said Pittman, who tied Steve Ballard for the most coaching wins (66) in program history. |”I think they went about their business in the right way. Outside of giving up the goal on a defensive error, I thought it was a really good performance. We moved the ball well, possessed it when we needed to, and we were really threatening and dangerous going forward. I really challenged them after that last water break to keep their foot on the gas, and they did exactly that. There were a lot of positives to take away from tonight.”

The most obvious of the positives was the emergence of the team’s underclassmen. Freshman Lilli Denhardt notched her first collegiate goal, tallying the game-winner late in the first half when she slotted in a pass from Pelkofski, who initially received a feed from Clark.

It was a bittersweet moment for Denhardt, who hails from Idaho. Her family was unable to attend the contest and see her achieve a milestone.

“I felt that a lot today, actually,” she said of being far from home. “While it’s sad that (my family) can’t be here physically, I know that they’re watching online, and telling their friends to watch the game, and having my friends congratulate me. While they physically can’t be here, I still feel the love and everything from a distance. We’re a family here, too. They fill in the gaps.”

Clark, a two-time United Soccer Coaches high school All-American and the organization’s 2026 Texas player of the year, netted her first goal less than three minutes into the second half. She intercepted a pass near midfield and made a 20-yard run before cracking a low, 25-yard line-drive inside the left post.

“It definitely feels so amazing,” Clark said. “I was very proud of myself. I sometimes get in my head a little bit and put myself down. I know I’m going to have those opportunities, so just being able to take them and finish them, I think, is the most important thing.”

Firmly in control, UTSA rounded out the scoring with eight minutes left when redshirt freshman forward Dulci Binns headed in Varela’s free kick as the Roadrunners opened the season with a fourth straight multi-goal game. They have scored a combined 10 goals in the first four games, the first time they’ve accomplished the feat since winning the Conference USA title and advancing to the NCAA tournament in 2022.

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