As the final minutes ticked away in the UTSA women’s soccer team’s exhibition match vs. Angelo State last Saturday, a sense of urgency arose.

The spring season has always been about growth. It’s been about seeing young players’ maturation; if roles — new or expanded — can be filled, and if new concepts can be learned and executed. The answers to those inquiries aren’t always easily ascertainable.

But on this overcast day, senior defender Sasjah Dade turned the abstract to the tangible. She headed in freshman midfielder Sophie Morrin’s corner kick with five minutes left as the Roadrunners edged Angelo State 1-0 at Park West Complex.

The contest was the last of a round-robin tournament that included 2023 Big 12 Conference regular-season champion Texas Tech and Southland Conference postseason tournament qualifier Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.

Texas Tech went 1-0-1 on the day, UTSA and Angelo State both finished 1-1, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi was 0-1-1.

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“The spring is a good opportunity because you’re not overly concerned about the results, but at the same time, you want to go out and do what we need to do,” UTSA coach Derek Pittman said. “It was really nice to see a lot of our players grow into their respective spots on the field.”

UTSA opened the competition with a 1-0 setback vs. Texas Tech, which last fall advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division I tournament before falling to longtime national power North Carolina 1-0. Madison graduate Jillian Martinez and LEE alum Kameron Kloza play for the Red Raiders.

Texas Tech scored the lone goal when sophomore Peyton Parsons slotted in a pass from junior Kaitlyn Giametta with about a minute remaining before halftime.

“I was really proud of our team vs. Tech,” Pittman said. “We didn’t fear them. We knew what we had to do to be dangerous against them. I thought for long periods of the game in the second half, we had them pinned back with chances and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to come away with a goal.”

In its finale, and despite several strong chances, UTSA was scoreless late in the second half against Angelo State, which competes in NCAA Division II’s Lone Star Conference and earlier in the day topped Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 1-0 on Allyson Reed’s second-half goal.

Smithson Valley’s Melyna Martinez, Medina Valley’s Isabella Hernandez, Clemens’ Sanai Stewart and Amber Lockwood, who attended Cornerstone through middle school and previously played at Oklahoma State and North Texas, all play at Angelo State.

But in the waning moments, while staring at the prospects of a second straight game without recording a goal, Dade found space on the left side of the penalty area and headed in Morrin’s corner kick.

“I think we did want to end off on a good note, especially being the last game of the spring,” Dade said. “I’m just glad it went in at the end of the day. I think for both games, the results could’ve been better, especially for Tech. We wanted the win for that one. I think that everything that we’ve been working on showed in that game, so I don’t think we took it as a loss.”

UTSA finished the spring season with a 4-3 record after previously playing Incarnate Word, Rice, Houston, St. Mary’s and Seminole State (Oklahoma). The Roadrunners will close the semester with conditioning, weightlifting and speed testing before some players will compete in summer leagues.

“It was really just an opportunity to see how far we’re coming in the spring,” said UTSA junior defender Peyton Godbey, who at this time a year ago was a mid-semester transfer from East Carolina. “Even if you’re not getting the result you want (during exhibitions), you can still take a step back and look at how your team did to see how we can do better in the fall and see what that final piece is.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1