Sofia Peters scores twice, helps UTSA down Incarnate Word

SAN ANTONIO — 19 minutes into the match, sophomore defender Sofia Peters scored her first collegiate goal. 

As UTSA soccer (4-0-3) battled to keep the cross-town Cardinals (3-4-1) at bay, Peters decided one goal wasn’t enough. In the 80th minute, Peters slammed the door shut on Incarnate Word with her second goal of the night, helping the Roadrunners secure a 3-1 win over the Cardinals on Thursday at Park West Athletics Complex.

“I was pretty happy with one [goal],” Peters said after the game. “But, you know, two always feels good. I knew if we went up by one more goal, my sister [junior defender Isabel Peters] was going to get in. This is her first game back [medically] cleared. So I really wanted that for her.” 

Sophomore midfielder Leah Varela initiated the Roadrunners’ first score of the night, driving a shot from the right side of the pitch directly onto the top bar of the goal. The ball ricocheted into Peters’ direction, and she leveraged all of her 6-foot-1 frame to rise above Cardinals defender Hayden Kish before driving in the goal with her head. 

“I feel like I was in the right place at the right time,” Peters said.

With just under five minutes remaining in the first half, freshman forward Dulci Binns found freshman midfielder Amelia Clark alone at the center of the pitch. Clark darted through the open grass and into the Cardinals’ penalty box before being fouled by Incarnate Word forward Atiana Lara. 

The foul set up Varela’s first penalty kick attempt of the season. 

“[Sophomore forward] Brooklyn Bailey and Leah Varela are the ones that train [penalty kicks] the most,” coach Derek Pittman explained. “They both can take it left foot, right foot. They can both hit for power and finesse. So depending on what they’re feeling and what they see from the goalkeeper, they’re going to know what decision to make. So, I didn’t think twice about letting Leah go up there and take it.” 

Varela decided to use her right foot and buried the goal in the top-left corner of the net. 

“It’s just special,” Varela said of her first collegiate goal. “I couldn’t have done it without Amelia Clark getting that foul. She’s just amazing. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.”

The Cardinals scored off a penalty kick in the 44th minute, mere minutes after Varela’s score, putting the pressure back on UTSA to hang onto the lead.

All season long, Varela has been the one setting up goals, not scoring them. Her first goal was long overdue, but in the second half, she returned as the team’s primary facilitator. With the Cardinals still hanging around, Varela and Peters connected once again with a shot on goal from Varela that forced Incarnate Word goalkeeper Hannah Alexander into a deflection, which Peters redirected into the net.

The score capped off a night that saw the Roadrunners take a whopping 29 shots, just 10 shy of the program’s all-time record of 39.

“Honestly, one of our most complete games up to this point in time,” Pittman said. “Really proud of them.

UTSA will close out non-conference play against Santa Clara University at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Park West Athletics Complex.