GREENVILLE, N.C. – The UTSA soccer team (6-3, 1-1 AAC) showed the necessary grit to triumph over an aggressive East Carolina (4-2-3, 1-1 AAC) squad on Thursday night at Johnson Stadium. Tyler Coker and Sasjah Dade netted goals in the 2-0 shutout victory over the homestanding Pirates for one of the Roadrunners’ most complete games of the year so far.
East Carolina was picked as the No. 3 team in the Preseason AAC poll, and the reasoning showed in Thursday night’s league matchup, with the Pirates using their press to disrupt UTSA passing lanes and limit opportunities on goal. Though the Pirates leveraged a possession advantage and held a 9-1 shot margin over the Roadrunners in the first half, the Roadrunners made that solo shot count. In the 21st minute, Rylee Low fired the ball up the sideline, kicking off an 11-second scoring sequence as her kick found Jordan Walker, who headed it backward directly to a driving Coker for a blazing shot past keeper Maeve English from the left side of the penalty arc. A sophomore from New Braunfels, Texas, Coker logged her second goal of the season while also making her first career start.
Coming out of the half with the momentum of a 1-0 lead, UTSA established more offensive chances in the second half early on. The Roadrunners got off two more shots in the first seven minutes of the second half before Low launched another long-ranger to initiate a second scoring play. Her ball found Coker deep downfield, which she bumped ahead to Dade, who gathered the ball and beat English in the lower right corner in the 54th minute. The second score of the season for the Ontario, California senior, Dade also notched her 10th career goal and a tie for ninth in the UTSA career records.
Leading UTSA to its fifth shutout of the season and her fourth solo clean sheet, Spring, Texas sophomore goalkeeper Jasmine Kessler notched her ninth career solo shutout – taking sole possession of third on the UTSA career list. Kessler finished with two saves, bringing her to 25 stops on the year.
Goals
UTSA: Tyler Coker (21’), Sasjah Dade (54’)
ECU: None
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
"Massive performance and effort by our whole squad tonight. ECU is a very talented team and our players carried out the game plan flawlessly to come away with three big points on the road. It was fantastic to see our players bounce back from a tough blow last Thursday and show tremendous grit and determination to do the little things that added up to a big result tonight. We can't wait to get home and play in front of our home fans on Sunday at Park West."
UP NEXT: The Roadrunners will finish off the non-conference slate on Sunday in the Hispanic Heritage Day game against Abilene Christian, facing the Wildcats for the first time since 2017 – also the first time under Pittman. Kickoff at Park West is set for 1 p.m.
- UTSA -