TAMPA, Fla. – The UTSA soccer team (7-7-3, 2-5-2 AAC) put in a wall-to-wall effort on Thursday night at league-leading South Florida (11-2-3, 6-1-2 AAC), giving the Bulls all they could handle down to the final seconds at Corbett Stadium – but succumbing to a 1-0 loss in the final road game of the season.
From the opening kick, a defensive tug-of-war ensued in Tampa, with the Roadrunners getting off the first shot from Michelle Polo. But the Bulls got off the next five consecutive attempts, including Sadie Sider-Echenberg’s 30th-minute strike to nudge the Bulls in front 1-0. Goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler made four first-half saves.
Fighting back against the halftime deficit, the Roadrunners made adjustments, and came out firing while putting steady pressure on South Florida, beginning with a Maci Geltmeier kick in the opening three minutes of the period, and UTSA taking three of the first four shots of the half. The Roadrunners outshot the Bulls 7-4 in the second half, placing five squarely on target. With time quickly expiring, a foul in the final 11 seconds gave UTSA one final chance as Jordyn Hyland launched a free kick that narrowly passed UTSA headers before reaching Leire Herraez Gallach’s fifth and final save.
For UTSA, Kessler finished with seven saves, while Tyler Coker led nine total Roadrunner shooters, registering two shots. A close shooting margin, USF edged out an 11-9 advantage as the Roadrunners scrapped to the final horn.
Goals
UTSA: None
USF: Sadie Sider-Echenberg (30’)
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
“Gutted for our group tonight because we put in a top effort versus a tough USF team on the road. Outside of the error that led to the goal in the first half, our players played fantastic. We made the necessary adjustments at halftime and created the better chances throughout the second half. We take a ton of confidence from this game and will be prepared to give everything we have vs FAU for a spot in the AAC tournament next Thursday night at Park West.”
UP NEXT: One more outing at home remains for the Roadrunners, as UTSA hosts Florida Atlantic next week at Park West on Halloween in the regular-season finale.
- UTSA -