LSU Hands Miami Soccer First Loss of Season
Sept. 8, 2007
Birmingham, Ala. – The University of Miami women’s soccer team dropped its first game of the season, falling to LSU, 4-1, on Saturday evening at the 2007 Long’s Electronics Samford Classic.
The four goals marked the most allowed by the Hurricanes since a 6-1 loss at No. 4 North Carolina on Sept. 24, 2006. With the loss, Miami falls to 2-1-1 to finish runner up at the tournament, while LSU remains unbeaten at 4-0-0 and claims the tournament title.
“LSU deserves credit for their performance today,” said Miami head coach Tricia Taliaferro. “They consistently played at a high level and capitalized off of some serious mistakes that we made and really gained some momentum.
“Obviously it was a disappointing loss, but we are going to continue to work on some things and get better. We look forward to playing at home.”
The Tigers got off to a fast start, scoring their first goal just five minutes into the match. LSU’s Rachel Yepez – who registered a hat trick in the Tigers’ 7-2 rout of Memphis in the tournament’s first round on Thursday – received the ball after a pair of quick passes from Taryne Boudreau and Lindsay Lum, and fired a shot into the right corner of the net past UM goalkeeper Lauren McAdam (Simsbury, Conn.) to take the 1-0 lead. It was Yepez’ team-leading fourth goal of the season.
Just eight minutes later, the Tigers added to their score as Melissa Clarke took a cross from Malorie Rutledge and sent the ball into the left corner to record the game winner and put LSU up 2-0 in the 13th minute.
The Hurricanes continued to press offensively and finally found the back of the net in the 38th minute. Sophomore Beverly Goebel (Moreno Valley, Calif./Sacramento State) passed to the ball to freshman Lauren Singer (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) who fired a shot from 25 yards out that ricocheted off the right post and into the goal to bring Miami within a score, trailing 2-1 through halftime. It was Singer’s fourth goal of the season and Goebel’s team-high third assist.
LSU wasted no time in the second half, extending its lead back to two goals in the 50th minute with a 35-yard direct kick that resulted in Boudreau’s first goal of 2007. The Tigers added to their advantage in the 73rd minute on a goal by Rosyln Jones to take the 4-1 lead.
For the game, LSU edged Miami 16-14 in shots and 8-3 in shots on goal. McAdam picked up her first loss of the season, finishing with four saves in 90 minutes, while LSU goalkeeper Valerie Vogler notched two saves.
For their efforts, Goebel and freshmen Brittney Macdonald (Littleton, Colo.) and Brittney Steinbruch (Wyckoff, N.J.) were named to the all-tournament team.
Miami returns to Coral Gables to host in-state rival USF (0-1-1) in the Hurricanes’ home opener on Friday, Sept. 14, at 7 p.m. Both teams have played one common opponent – Ole Miss – so far in the early goings of the 2007 campaign with both games ending in ties – Miami’s a 1-1 draw on Aug. 31 and USF’s a scoreless tie on Sept. 2.
