SAN ANTONIO – Locking up Derek Pittman’s 66th win to tie for the most wins in UTSA coaching history, the UTSA soccer team (2-0-2) remained undefeated on Sunday, delivering a commanding victory over visiting St. Mary’s. It was a big night for Roadrunner underclassmen, as redshirt sophomore Ava Jackson, true freshmen Lilli Denhardt and Amelia Clark and redshirt freshman Dulci Binns each netted goals in the 4-1 romp over the Rattlers.
Fueling an early start for UTSA’s offense, Brooklyn Bailey and Leah Varela sliced up the middle before pushing the ball ahead to Jackson, who gathered her shot just beyond the right corner of the 18-yard box and fired the opening score into the left side of the net in the 12th minute – notching her third consecutive game with a goal and matching Michelle Polo’s late-season effort in 2025.
Trailing early, the Rattlers weren’t ready to lie down despite the early UTSA momentum, as Helen Lazaro slipped a score into the goal to knot things up at 1-1 in the 18th minute.
It took 20 minutes, but rookie defender Denhardt got the Roadrunners back on a roll, beating the St. Mary’s keeper in the 39th minute to finish off a clean pair of assists from Clark and Caroline Pelkofski – logging her first career goal and the first two-goal opening half of UTSA’s 2026 season.
The Roadrunners came through on Pittman’s halftime challenge and Clark put away the insurance goal just 2:40 into the second half, swiping the ball away and turning upfield for the solo drive to her first career goal and a 3-1 UTSA lead.
Coming down the stretch, Binns drove home the final nail with her second goal of the year, heading the ball into the right side past the diving keeper, making the most of perfect placement on Leah Varela’s free kick in the 82nd minute for the 4-1 final margin.
With a 56-percent possession control, the UTSA defense kept the Rattlers cooped up and the Roadrunners secured a 15-4 shooting advantage – scoring on 4-of-5 on-target shots. Staying aggressive throughout, UTSA put up six shots and the final goal in the last 15 minutes of the game. The Roadrunners have now scored 10 goals in the opening four-game stretch; a first for the UTSA program since the beginning of the 2022 Conference USA Championship season.
Binns registered three shots to pace the Roadrunners, with Bailey, Varela, Jackson and Denhardt each putting up a pair of attempts apiece.
Goals
StMU: Helen Lazaro (19’)
UTSA: Ava Jackson (13’), Lilli Denhardt (39’), Amelia Clark (48’), Dulci Binns (82’)
Quoting Coach Derek Pittman
“Proud of our players. I think they went about their business in the right way. Outside of giving up the goal on a defensive error, I thought it was a really good performance. We moved the ball well, possessed it when we needed to and we were really threatening and dangerous going forward. I really challenged them after that last water break to keep their foot on the gas and they did exactly that. There was a lot of positives to take away from tonight.”
UP NEXT: UTSA’s three-game homestand concludes next Thursday, Aug. 27, with Texas Southern visiting Park West for the first time since 2022, as UTSA hosts Salue to Armed Forces.
- UTSA -