During the dog days of summer, a few months before the start of another season, and with his players still settling into their new housing accommodations, UTSA women’s soccer coach Derek Pittman brought his team together.

It was one of those moments where goals are defined and the pulse of a squad is detected. Pittman did a straw poll. He asked all 28 players to stand if any had played in more than five games in college. Six stood. Four others said they had played in a handful of games. Eighteen replied they had never stepped foot on a field in a regular-season contest.

“They embraced that youth,” Pittman said. “They embraced that we were a blank canvas, and we had the opportunity to do something really, really special. They stuck with that mentality all season.”

Paced by the few seniors on the roster, bolstered by an influx of talented freshmen and transfers, UTSA has seemingly overcome the odds to advance to the American Athletic Conference postseason tournament championship match.

The Roadrunners (9-5-6) take on sixth-seeded Rice (10-3-6) at 1 p.m. Sunday in Lakewood Ranch, Florida. The winner secures the AAC’s automatic berth into the NCAA Division I championships.

“Nobody gave us a shot of being here at the beginning of the year,” said Pittman, whose team was selected to finish eighth in a preseason poll of coaches but was near the top of league standings for a large portion of conference play. “I think this all starts back in July, back in August, with our kids’ determination and belief that we can accomplish this goal.”

UTSA’s growth this season has been nothing short of remarkable. Youth and inexperience transformed into unflinching resolve, where no deficit was too much to overcome.

“We knew that we had a great core of seniors,” Pittman said. “All five (Zoe May, Haley Lopez, Rylee Miller, Michelle Polo and Izzy Lane) are hard-working, influential individuals within our locker room. We talk all the time about ‘sweeping the shed.’ Our leaders have to be the ones who are servants, and show that no task is too small.”

Whether it’s playing a different position, coming off the bench instead of being a starter, accepting an in-game adjustment where the assignment is to forsake focusing on scoring goals and instead defending one of the opponent’s top scoring threats, the unselfishness has yielded a historic season.

Aaliyaiah Durden, for example, arrived on campus in late May after spring training. She was asked to be a defender instead of her usual role as a midfielder.

“I just needed to do what the coach asked of me,” she said.

The dividends are paying off. In the past two matches, Durden has figured prominently. She scored the game-winning goal in a 2-1 decision vs. Alabama-Birmingham in the quarterfinals. In a stunning comeback win in the semifinals vs. Memphis, the nation’s No. 3-ranked team, she fueled a late surge. Durden scored the tying goal and assisted on another during a five-minute span that turned a 3-1 deficit into a 3-3 tie.

“The past couple of games have been fortunate for me,” Durden said. “I guess I’ve been in the right position. I’m just happy to contribute.”

The Roadrunners prevailed 3-1 in penalty kicks vs. Memphis, with goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler, May and Bri Carrigan converted on their penalties. Kessler also had the decisive save.

“This group is tough as hell, and they don’t care who gets the credit,” Pittman said. “Our goal is to win a championship. When we win that championship, it’s not just the starting 11 that gets to have championship rings. Everyone does. It’s going to take all of us to get there.”

UTSA seeks its second tournament title in four seasons — it won the Conference USA crown in 2022 — with Sunday’s encounter vs. Rice. The teams played to a 1-1 draw during league competition on Oct. 2.

The match that matters now is not one from a month ago, but the one that will be played on a sunny afternoon in Florida. For the Roadrunners, making it to this occasion has truly come against the odds.

“This is a team that has been through a lot of adversity, with injuries and transfers and everything,” Durden said. “I think because a lot of us have overcome our own obstacles and battles, I think we didn’t see being a young team as a disadvantage. We saw it as an opportunity. I think it speaks to our hunger and grit.

“It kind of felt a little disrespectful (to be picked to finish eighth in the AAC). I think with any team, it’s going to be a motivating factor. It’s fun to look back and have that as symbolic of all the doubters, the people who didn’t think we could make it here.”

terrence@terrencesports.com
Twitter: @sa_terrence1