CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The UTSA soccer team upset the No. 2 seed North Texas, 2-1, in the Conference USA Semifinal match on Friday afternoon in Charlotte, N.C. The Roadrunners continue to make program history as they have now advanced to the championship match for the first time since joining the conference in 2013.
"[North Texas are] the ones who set the mark in our conference early and we knew that," head coach Derek Pittman said. "All roads to a championship are going to lead through them without a doubt and I'm just so proud of our players… It feels really, really good to take this team to our first conference championship game."
UTSA sits at a 11-5-4 overall record, while North Texas ends its season with an overall record of 12-6-2. The Roadrunners outshot the Mean Green by 16 shots (nine on target) to 11 shots (two on goal). Three Roadrunners notched three shots apiece – Jordan Walker, Avery Chaney and Anna Sutter. Both Walker and Kendall Kloza scored their second goals of the season, while Kloza scored the game-winner in the 31st minute. Five of the 10 starting field played all 90 minutes, including defenders Kloza, Deja Sandoval, and Sasjah Dade and midfielders Sarina Russ and Sabrina Hillyer.
After a tough loss to North Texas in the regular season, UTSA had something to prove and they dominated in the first half with this motto in mind. In the first half of action, the Roadrunners outperformed the Mean Green with 10 shots and three corner kicks to UNT's four shots and two corners. UTSA held a strong possession advantage in the first half as the team had the ball 62 percent of the time. The Roadrunners came out strong, firing off the first four shots of the match. In the ninth minute, UTSA earned a corner kick which Chaney launched into the box where Sandoval then headed it towards the goal but UNT's goalkeeper Dani Jacobson deflected it back into action. After being deflected back into action, Walker kicked it back into the net and scored, putting UTSA up 1-0 after bouncing through a couple Mean Green defenders.
For the next 20 minutes or so, each team took four shots and battled back and forth for a while. In the 31stminute, UTSA earned a free kick which Kloza took, as usual for the senior defender. Kloza has been clutch in taking these set pieces all season but this one was a little different as she sunk this one all on her own off the free kick, giving the Roadrunners a 2-0 advantage. UTSA did not allow North Texas another shot through the last 15 minutes, taking their 2-0 lead to halftime.
In the second half, the Mean Green started playing a little more aggressively as they led the shots by seven shots to six shots, also earning four corner kicks to UTSA's zero. The Roadrunners started the second half off strong as they recorded two shots and earned two free kicks in the first 10 minutes. In the 60th minute, North Texas found its way on the board as Madison Drenowatz scored her first goal of the season, making the score 2-1, in favor of UTSA.
The match seemed to be played a lot more on UTSA's defensive third after this goal as the Mean Green recorded six more shots but that didn't intimidate the Roadrunners. UTSA recorded four more shots before time expired but the biggest factor through the rest of the match was the Roadrunners' strong defense. The defensive line and goalkeeper Mia Krusinski faced a lot of pressure but held their ground to lead UTSA to a 2-1 win over North Texas in the C-USA Semifinal match.
GOALS
UTSA: Jordan Walker (9'), Kendall Kloza (31')
UNT: Madison Drenowatz (60')
UP NEXT
The Roadrunners will face the winner of the other semifinal match, No. 5 seed FAU, in the Conference USA Championship match on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (ET)/12 p.m. (CT)
-UTSA-
