Thus far into a season that, for the most part, has lived up to billing, the UTSA women’s soccer team has been tested and tried on different fronts.

The Roadrunners were forced to display wherewithal vs. TCU, then ranked No. 6 nationally and now No. 20. A few days earlier, No. 18 Texas State tested the Roadrunners’ resiliency. In the weeks that followed, a road game at East Texas A&M turned a spotlight onto how the local squad deals with adversity, be it travel issues, less-than-ideal playing conditions or a lackluster performance, and crosstown foe Incarnate Word provided a glimpse into what could happen by easing up on the proverbial pedal.

For every inquiry, the Roadrunners had a suitable answer. With the start of American Athletic Conference play a week away, UTSA gets another opportunity to dot the i’s and cross the t’s when it hosts two-time national champion Santa Clara in its final non-conference match at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Park West Complex.

This is the first meeting between the programs and the first time that UTSA (4-0-3) has played against a West Coast Conference school since a 9-0 loss vs. Portland in the opening round of the 2010 NCAA tournament.

“I think we’re playing some of our best soccer at this point and time in the year, and we know that we’re going to have a really difficult opponent in Santa Clara coming in on Thursday night,” Roadrunners coach Derek Pittman said. “They’re going to be a big, big challenge.”

Santa Clara struggled a year ago by its standard, finishing with an 8-6-5. In their 40th season under Coach Jerry Smith, the Broncos (3-2-3) are fresh off a 4-0 win vs. Fresno State. They had suffered back-to-back losses to No. 6 Stanford and No. 21 UCLA, the latter being a 3-2 setback after holding a 2-0 advantage at halftime. All-region senior forward Kennedy Schoennauer has tallied six of her team’s 12 goals.

Santa Clara won NCAA Division I crowns in 2001 and 2020-21, both times pulling off sizeable upsets. Twenty-five years ago at SMU, the Broncos — led by midfielder Aly Wagner, defender Danielle Slaton and forward Leslie Osborne — blanked mighty North Carolina 1-0 as legendary soccer figures Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Cindy (Parlow) Cone looked on. During the COVID 2020 season (the College Cup was played in May 2021), the Broncos used a goal from Kelsey Turnbow in the 84th minute to tie the contest at 1-1 and force overtime. They prevailed 4-1 on penalty kicks.

Wagner, Slaton, Osborne and Brandi Chastain, who converted the penalty kick that lifted the U.S. past China in the final of the 1999 World Cup and is married to Smith, are the main founders of Bay FC, a franchise in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

“When I came to UTSA, my main thing was I wanted to come to a program — I think a lot of the transfers have had this mentality — and just win championships,” said UTSA redshirt sophomore midfielder Leah Varela, who is tied for the national lead for assists overall (seven) and assists per match (1.00). “You want to step into an environment where you can impact it. We go, we get results, we compete. We’re not afraid to step up to these Power 4 teams. It’s special to be a part of a team that’s gritty and just wants to work.”

Santa Clark is the next test in that regard for UTSA, No. 3 in the United Soccer Coaches South Region rankings behind Liberty (7-2-1) and Memphis (2-3-1).

“Regardless of whether this is a national championship year for them or whether it’s just an OK year, they’re going to have some really special players. and we’re excited about it because I do think it gets us ready for what we’re going to experience against East Carolina, Charlotte, and some of the other opponents that we’re going to play in league play as we get ready in the next couple of weeks,” Pittman said. “Our goal each week is to just keep getting better at what we do and take what we learned from each game.”

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