Derek Pittman, UTSA soccer ‘chasing growth’ in upcoming 2026 campaign 

SAN ANTONIO — Two goals in two minutes against top-seeded Memphis? Unbelievable. Overtime win over Rice to claim the American Conference tournament title, ending a three-year NCAA tournament drought? Unbelievable. 

Well, it was unbelievable to everyone besides the UTSA players and coaches who were in Lakewood Ranch, Florida, for the tournament. Only they saw firsthand how the Roadrunners went about their business day to day.

“People weren’t able to see what was going on behind the scenes, how our players had their mindset going into the tournament,” head coach Derek Pittman said. “When we found out we were matched up against UAB, [we] were unyielding in our mentality. How they were eating, how they were sleeping and how they were just going about their business was extremely professional. 

“Nobody picked us to win the tournament walking in the door as the fifth seed. Nobody had us beating Memphis in the semifinals. The belief and mentality of our group and our coaching staff was so much fun to be a part of. Seeing that come to fruition by ultimately winning the championship, that’s the overarching story.” 

Looking to defend their conference crown, the Roadrunners had a busy offseason. In December 2025, UTSA announced the signings of six high school athletes and, in January, paired them with four transfers. In April, the university extended Pittman’s contract through 2030 and capped off their offseason acquisitions with five additional newcomers to the roster in July. 

The result of all the offseason’s work? A roster built to strike first.

“We will have the most attacking weapons we’ve had in my time here, as far as options to play up front,” Pittman explained. 

He tabbed five transfers as names to watch in 2026: Louisville transfer midfielder Emma Kate Schroll, Texas A&M transfer forward Shea Ryan, TCU transfer forward Sadie Paul, Houston transfer midfielder Sabrina Taber and North Texas transfer goalkeeper Kylie Kissee. 

“Schroll is going to be really good for our midfield. She’ll help replace a player like Zoё May,” Pittman said. “Ryan is a hard-working, blue-collar kid that can really stretch the game and cause problems up front. Paul is a freaking athlete, just a beast. She can freaking run. She’s got great pace. She’ll play as a winger, a wingback or outside back and kind of roll out in the wide channel to go from box to box, defend, attack and serve quality balls into the box.

“Taber is a local talent. She went all the way to Cincinnati and then transferred to Houston, but now comes to us with two years of eligibility. We’re excited about her athleticism and quickness. Whether we’ve got Sadie or Sabrina running out wide, they’re going to have the pace to keep up with most people that we play against. 

Kissee is going to come in and compete in our goalkeeper room. Yes, we have Jasmine Kessler coming back for her senior year, but she’s going to have her work cut out for her. Kissee has been really good in training.” 

With an influx of new talent alongside returning contributors like defenders Kameron Kloza and Aaliyaiah Durden, midfielder Leah Varela and forward Brooklyn Bailey, Pittman has a tall task deciding how to allocate playing time. 

“There’s a lot of mouths to feed. They’re all going to want the ball,” he said. “They’ll want to score goals, and they’re going to want to contribute. So, it’s just a matter of figuring out what the right shape is with this new personnel. I’m not married to a specific formation or shape. Last year we played 4-2-3-1. In the spring, we were in a 4-4-2. 

“We’re early in the preseason right now, so it’s just a matter of fighting out who are the best 11, and who are going to give us the best opportunity to be successful.” 

Similarly to 2025, UTSA will be figuring out its identity against fierce non-conference opponents to open up the season. The Roadrunners host the Longhorns in their first exhibition of the fall, and officially open up the 2026 campaign against Texas State. UTSA heads to TCU for its first road test of the season, and hosts Incarnate Word and Santa Clara for its final two games before American Conference play. 

“We’ll play anyone, anytime,” Pittman said. “We want our players to have that mindset, and we want recruits that come here to have that mindset. We’re going to play against big competition.” 

Pittman’s scheduling thought process is just another piece of a larger puzzle, one meant to prepare his squad for the postseason. 

“When we make it to the NCAA tournament, there’s only a handful of places we’re getting shipped,” he said. “We’re going to A&M. We’re going to Texas Tech. We’re going to Texas, Baylor, TCU and maybe SMU. So, a couple of years ago we started talking about how to play some of those teams early on to get our players ready for that. So, when we see them in the NCAA tournament, it’s not the first time we’ve experienced playing against opponents of that caliber.” 

Internally, the Roadrunners have high expectations for themselves and lofty goals they want to achieve in 2026 — rightfully so; they’ve earned that much. But Pittman’s goals for his squad are more than just winning; it’s pursuing incremental improvement in multiple areas. 

“Do we want to win conference championships? Do we want to go to the NCAA tournament? Yes,” Pittman explained. “But I’m a firm believer that the trophies we’ve been fortunate enough to win, and the championships we’ve been fortunate enough to compete for, are a byproduct of what we do on a daily basis. We just want to make sure that we’re continuing to grow. 

“We talk about that every single day. How do we get better? We’re always going to be a blue-collar, gritty, tough and competitive team. We are always going to be extremely organized defensively and try to play fast, attacking football. So, we want to talk about ‘How are we getting better in those areas every single day?’  

“Making sure that you leave everything out there and represent this program in a positive way are our daily goals. If we do that, then the results, hopefully, take care of themselves.”  

UTSA hosts Texas at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 5, at Park West.