Soccer Opens ACC Play at Home Thursday
Sept. 26, 2007
Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s soccer team opens Atlantic Coast Conference competition this week, playing host to N.C. State and seventh-ranked North Carolina.
The Hurricanes will face the Wolfpack on Thurs., Sept. 27, at 7 p.m., and the No. 7 Tar Heels on Sun., Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. Both games will be played at Cobb Stadium, and Sunday’s match will also be available via webcast on ACC Select (www.accselect.com).
Miami (4-2-2), who is unbeaten in its last three games, enter Thursday’s ACC opener versus N.C. State with the nation’s 18th-ranked scoring offense – powered by freshmen Brittney Steinbruch (Wyckoff, N.J.) and Lauren Singer (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.).
Steinbruch leads the `Canes with 19 points on nine goals and an assist, and is ranked fifth in the nation with 1.125 goals per game and is ninth with 2.38 points per game. The true freshman leads the ACC with 6.75 shots per game, ranks second in the ACC – behind the national leader – in goals per game and points per game and is tied for third in the league with a pair of game-winning goals. After just eight games as a Hurricane, she is tied for fourth in program history in single-season goals (9), is sixth in single-season shots (54) and is tied for ninth in single-season points (19). In addition, Steinbruch is one goal shy of entering UM’s top 10 in career goals in just her first season.
Singer has also gotten off to a strong start for the Hurricanes, and is second on the team with six goals and three assists for 15 points. She is among the NCAA’s top 40 with 1.88 points per game and 0.75 goals per game and ranks ninth in the ACC with 3.12 shots per outing. A
lthough UM features a lot of youth on its squad, Miami is anchored by veteran leaders including senior goalkeeper Lauren McAdam (Simsbury, Conn.), junior defender Corynn Carino (Los Gatos, Calif.) and junior forward Rachael Rigamat (La Crescenta, Calif.). Together the Hurricanes have cracked the regional polls and enter ACC play ranked 14th in the Southeast region according to Soccer Buzz – one spot above the Wolfpack.
N.C. State (5-1-2) rides a three-match win streak into Coral Gables. The Wolfpack, who are 2-0-1 on the road this season, are averaging 1.65 goals per game. They are led by 2006 All-ACC Second Team pick Lindsay Vera with five goals on the season, while goalkeeper Sydney Little has helped the team to three shutouts – including two straight heading into Thursday.
No. 7 North Carolina (6-2-0) has won two straight and will take on Florida State in Tallahassee on Thursday before heading to Coral Gables for Sunday’s showdown. The 2006 NCAA Champions have had 11 different goal scorers this season, led by Casey Nogueira with five. Averaging 2.5 goals per game, a tough Tarheel defense has limited opponents to just 0.38 goals per game, good for 13th in the nation.
Following this weekend, Miami heads to Virginia for a pair of ACC contests. The Hurricanes face Virginia Tech on Thurs., Oct. 4 at 7 p.m., followed by a match at No. 5 Virginia, on Sunday, Oct. 7, at 2 p.m.
