SAN ANTONIO – UTSA remained perfect at home as sophomore forward Tyler Coker netted a 49’ score for the Roadrunners (4-2), who held on to the 1-0 victory over Colorado State (3-2-1) with defensive support from sophomore keeper Jasmine Kessler. The effort produced the second milestone inside a week for head coach Derek Pittman, who collected his 50th win as UTSA’s head coach.
In the opening half, the Roadrunners maintained a 60-40 possession advantage against the Rams, also taking a 5-3 shot advantage but an even 0-0 score into the break.
Quickly ramping up after half, Kessler made a save early in the second half and transferred the ball to Peyton Godbey, who quickly pushed the ball up the field. Michelle Polo sent the ball ahead to New Braunfels native Coker, who drove past her defender down the left side and fired the ball through a block attempt into the top right corner – logging her first collegiate goal in the 49th-minute to push UTSA up 1-0.
The Roadrunners kept the pressure on, with seven more shots in the second half and flat-out dominant possession control that proved to total 79 percent to CSU’s 21 at the final horn. However, the Rams still made room for quality chances and Kessler quelled the challenges. In back-to-back corner sequences, Kessler registered three saves on four point-blank shots with 10 minutes to go.
Kessler finished with a season-high five saves and registered her second solo shutout of the season – moving her up to fourth in the UTSA all-time career records with seven.
Goals
UTSA: Tyler Coker (49’)
CSU: None
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
"I’m extremely proud of the grit and toughness our kids showed today. I give huge credit to Tyler Coker for stepping up and being able to finish that opportunity. She’s been fighting her butt off since the beginning of preseason and working to increase her minutes. She’s been really good the last couple of weeks, and I just hope that continues for us. We knew this was going to be tough against a very tough Colorado State team who muddies the waters and makes it difficult to break them down. They’re well organized and dangerous going forward, on the counter and on set pieces and I’m just really proud of Peyton Godbey, Addi O’Kelley, Izzy Peters – people that came off the bench and provided massive minutes for us to see through this shutout. Jasmine Kessler made some critical saves and Kameron Kloza winning some important headers – I can go on and on, every one of those little-bitty details matter and that’s what contributed to our win today.”
Coach Derek Pittman on the 50 UTSA Win Milestone
"Winning is hard and this milestone is another huge credit to the incredible coaches and players I've been fortunate enough to work alongside here at UTSA. I'm also grateful for the relentless support from Dr. Lisa Campos and our administration as we keep building this program into an annual championship team! We are focused on getting the next win and many more here in the 2-1-0."
UP NEXT: The Roadrunners will see their first single-game week of the year, but their travels will take them outside of Texas for the first time in 2024. UTSA will face Central Arkansas in Conway next Sunday, Sept. 8, with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
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