Looking Back at the 2004 Season

Nov. 18, 2004

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The 2004 season may go down as one of the most difficult years in the history of women’s soccer at the University of Miami. Entering her third year at UM, head coach Tricia Taliaferro entered the season with total of 17 underclassmen, including seven true freshmen with only four seniors as they prepared for their inaugural season the tradition-rich Atlantic Coast Conference.

Already facing the daunting task of playing what would prove to be the nation’s toughest-rated schedule that featured eight teams that were either ranked at the time or finished the regular season ranked in the top 25, Taliaferro and the Hurricanes would fight through a number of season-ending injuries, along with the difficulty of dealing with a string of hurricanes hitting the southeast en route to an overall record of 3-13-0.

“We gained a lot of experience this season – moving from the BIG EAST to the ACC, how to prepare, how to play, what to expect – along with dealing with adversity, injuries and not being able to get into a routine because of the hurricanes,” said Taliaferro of Miami’s season.

“Overall, I was pleased with our performance, but obviously disappointed in the results. We were creating 12-13 shots per game and lost eight games by one goal. Being close added to the frustration, but I think from the in the time since I’ve come in to where we are now, we are a much better team. It’s hard to measure those things when you don’t have wins to show for it.”

Tested Early

The Hurricanes opened the 2004 slate in August with a pair of matches in the state of Virginia. UM dropped their first match of the year, a 2-0 decision against George Mason, before heading to Charlottesville to take on Virginia, where they would break new ground, becoming the first Miami sport to compete in an Atlantic Coast Conference match as a member of the ACC.

Miami came up short against the seventh-ranked Cavaliers, surrendering a pair of first and second period goals to fall to UVa 4-0 in their conference debut.

“It’s one thing for a coach to tell players `this is what we have to do,’ and it’s another thing to step out on the field against a team like Virginia, who ends up being the ACC champions, in one of your first games of the season. I’m glad it happened earlier than later, because the reality of the caliber of teams we would be playing all season was set in that game. In terms of preparation, having to adjust was a little more difficult than the players may have expected,” said Taliaferro about playing Virginia.

Hurricane Frances and Ivan Strike South Florida

As the Hurricanes prepared for their next matches, a showdown with intrastate and now ACC-rival Florida State scheduled for September 3 followed by a match with Georgia in Coral Gables, they suffered what would be the first of many setbacks of the season.

With the threat of Hurricane Frances, a massive category four storm, looming over the greater portion of the southeastern United States, Miami was forced to reschedule the FSU match and cancel the Georgia match.

After riding the ups-and-downs of preparing for a pair of matches with some of the nation’s top teams, the Hurricanes set their sights on their next series of matches the following weekend. UM was originally scheduled to take on Stetson September 8, Auburn September 10 and Marquette September 12, but for the second consecutive week, were forced to alter their plans as yet another severe weather threat, Hurricane Ivan, made its way towards South Florida.

UM cancelled the matches with Stetson and Marquette, and moved the start time of the contest with Auburn from 7 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

With nearly two weeks of matches either rescheduled or cancelled due to inclement weather, the Hurricanes were finally back on the field, taking on No. 17 Auburn at Cobb Stadium.

The Hurricanes struck first against the Tigers, scoring in the 22nd minute on a Lindsey Yach penalty kick, but were unable to hold on to the lead, allowing a game-winning goal in the 86th minute to fall to Auburn 2-1.

“Going nearly two weeks without playing a match was extremely difficult,” stated Taliaferro “The biggest thing surrounding the hurricanes, was not being able to get into a set routine; training, playing, preparing. That was our first experience with something that difficult and I thought we responded well.”

“When you get into the mindset of playing two games a week, to have that altered and in our case, we only played two games in three weeks, it’s going to be hard on any team. You lose your game fitness, mentality and dealing with something as severe as a hurricane can be very stressful.”

Finally back into a regular routine, Miami returned to action September 17 in a home match with ACC foe NC State. The Hurricanes would out-shoot the Wolfpack 16-to-12 despite playing a man down for nearly the entire second period. UM was forced to play 10-on-11 when keeper Alex Alford, playing in her first match of the season after returning from an injury, drew a red card in the 48th minute after colliding with an NC State player.

UM’s impressive offensive attack with just ten field players proved to be too little as the Hurricanes fell 1-0 to NC State to lose their fourth-in-a-row.

“Obviously we were disappointed in the loss, but overall I was pleased with the NC State game,” said Taliaferro about the loss to NC State. “Alex (Alford) got a redcard in the second half, but we dominated the half and we created a lot of opportunities, we just couldn’t score goals.”

After coming up short in a pair of matches decided by just one goal, Miami looked to rebound against ACC opponent Maryland in their next outing.

Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Playing against her alma mater, head coach Taliaferro and the Hurricanes went back-and-fourth with the Terrapins as each team vied for opportunities until the 60th minute when freshman Lindsay Curtin ripped a shot from 20 yards out that deflected through the Maryland keeper and into the net to give the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead.

The Terrapins responded three minutes later, tying the match at 1-1, before UM freshman Cynthia Dongo fielded a pass from sophomore Sheuneen Ta to scored on the short side of the post for the game-winner, marking the Hurricanes’ first conference win as members of the ACC.

“Going into Maryland, my biggest concern was wheter or not or play was going to drop off feeling that we should have beaten NC State, but I think we responded well – we came out an won. I was proud because we overcame that loss and stayed focused,” said Taliaferro.

Two days later, Miami headed up-state for a match at Jacksonville where they would capitalize on a trio of goals from senior Anik Huffman, junior Lindsey Yach and senior Britney Butcher to overpower the Dolphins 3-1 to record their second win in as many matches.

UM Suffers Major Setback with String of Injuries

With back-to-back wins, the Hurricanes then headed to Clemson for a match with the 15th-ranked Tigers in South Carolina. The Tigers would score early, taking a 3-0 lead into the half. Miami responded in the second period scoring a pair of goals by sophomore Kristen Chapman and senior Andrea Radice to cut the Clemson lead to one.

Trailing by a goal, the Hurricanes’ rally was cut short when Clemson added an insurance goal in the 80th minute to win the match 4-2.

Along with the loss to ACC rivals Clemson, the Hurricanes suffered a devastating blow when freshman midfielder Jessica Gillman, who had made her way into the UM starting lineup, went down with one of what would turn out to be many season-ending knee injuries that would hinder the Hurricanes in 2004.

“We were down 3-0 at the half and came back by making some adjustments,” said Taliaferro about the Clemson match. “Jessica Gillman actually broke her nose and went back into the game. It was 3-2 and (Gillman) tore her ACL and that changed the flow of the game.”

Miami then returned home from the two-mach road stint to face No. 16 Duke October 3 at Cobb Stadium. The Hurricanes broke the lead against the Blue Devils in the 23rd minute when Ta lofted a pass from midfield to sophomore Kelly Pflugner, who fired a shot from the top of the box past the Blue Devil keeper and into the net to put Miami up 1-0 against the ACC powerhouse.

Duke answered 11 minutes later, tying the match at 1-1 and added their second goal of the match in the 74th minute, eventually going on to win 4-1.

Adding to the loss to Duke, the Hurricanes lost a player for the season for the second consecutive match when freshman forward Cynthia Dongo suffered a knee injury that would sideline her for the remainder of the year.

The Hurricanes schedule continued to thicken in their next match as they headed to Chapel Hill, N.C. to take on defending National Champions, No. 2 North Carolina October 7.

Britney Butcher would score the Hurricanes’ lone goal against the Tar Heels as UM fell to UNC, 5-1 to fall to 2-7-0 overall on the season and 1-5-0 in ACC play.

The Hurricanes lost 2004 All-ACC Second Team selection Sheuneen Ta for the season against Wake Forest.

“Although Carolina scored five goals, I was pleased with our performance – we played them straight up,” stated Taliaferro about the Hurricanes’ match with UNC. “We put pressure on them and didn’t drop back because wanted to see where we were as a team.”

Following the loss to the second-ranked Tar Heels, Miami traveled to Winston-Salem, N.C. to face No. 22 Wake Forest, but would come up short against the Demon Deacons, dropping a 5-0 decision and would suffer the loss of yet another player, losing Sheuneen Ta, who led the team in assists, for the year with a knee injury.

“We lost Sheuneen (Ta) against Wake Forest which meant we were now without our starting defensive center-mid, our attacking center-mid and our forward,” Taliaferro said about the loss of Gillman, Ta and Dongo.

“When you’re in a rebuilding process with a lot of underclassmen and you lose the core of that group, that can be devastating. If we had to take a positive out of the injuries, we were able to get a lot of players, who may not have received that same opportunity before, playing time.”

The Hurricanes returned to Cobb Stadium October 13 in an attempt to snap a four-match skid against cross-town rival Florida International. Kelly Pflugner, who was celebrating her 21st birthday, would lead Miami past the Golden Panthers, taking a pass from junior Ashley Durkee to score the game-winner from 35 yards out in the 64th minute to lift the Hurricanes past FIU, 1-0.

“FIU was a good win. It was a good win without playing with three of our starters. Coming out and beating FIU showed a lot about the character of this team,” said Taliaferro.

The win over FIU would be mired with the loss of junior Jackie Garcia, who would miss the remainder of the year with a knee injury suffered against the Golden Panthers.

Down the Stretch

After losing four players for the season over the course of five matches, Miami played host to in-state and now ACC-rival Florida State October 19, in a make-up match originally scheduled September 3.

As the two teams fought in a defensive back-and-fourth position battle, the Hurricanes would surrender the game-winner to the 19th-ranked Seminoles in the 25th minute and could not bounce back despite holding FSU to just eight shots on the night.

“I thought we played well against Florida State. We had opportunities to win,” said Taliaferro. “We came out with a lot of pride, but they defended well and they got the one rebound and in the ACC when you make one mistake, the other team is going to capitalize.”

“The game also showed how we’ve closed the gap with FSU,” Taliaferro added. “Last season, they scored seven goals against us and this year the game was 1-0. I think that shows a lot about the development of this program.”

Following the loss to FSU, the Hurricanes took on in-state rival UCF in the final home match of 2004 as the close of the regular-season drew near.

Trailing 2-0 to the Golden Knights, UM’s Lindsey Yach found the back of the left side of the net after knocking down a rebound on a shot by Andrea Radice that hit the crossbar in the 87th minute to score the Hurricanes’ lone goal of the match as Miami fell to UCF 2-1.

Miami then headed to Blacksburg, Virginia October 24 to play Virginia Tech in their final regular season ACC match of the 2004 season. Virginia Tech scored the first goal of the day five minutes into the second period, but the lead would only last for 30 seconds as UM’s Yach took a pass from sophomore Shannon Sanguinetti and connected for her fourth goal of the season, tying the match at one goal apiece.

The Hokies broke the deadlock in the 74th minute, scoring on a rebound off a save by UM keeper Alex Alford to give Virginia Tech a 2-1 lead that would last the remainder of the match.

With the loss to Virginia Tech, the Hurricanes fell to 3-11-0 overall and closed out conference play with an overall record of 1-8-0 in ACC matches.

In the regular-season finale, Miami headed to Boca Raton, Florida to take on in-state rival Florida Atlantic October 27. The Hurricanes would allow a game-winning goal to the Owls in 108th minute to fall to FAU 1-0 in a double-overtime heartbreaker to wrap up the regular season.

Heading into the opening round of the 2004 ACC Women’s Soccer Tournament, Miami drew a first-round match-up with Virginia Tech, taking on the Hokies for the second time in seven days.

“By the end of the season, our biggest thing was to maintain a positive attitude,” said Taliaferro. “We continued to work hard and we were close in games, but at that point it was asking a lot of our players we had left to keep up with teams we were playing.”

The Hurricanes and Virginia Tech would battle through the first period, combining for 11 total shots in the first half as the two schools headed into the half scoreless. UM came out strong in the second period, but it was the Hokies who would score first, netting would be the game-winning goal in the 60th minute.

Virginia Tech would go on to score again in the 71st minute to knock the Hurricanes out of the ACC Tournament, ending UM’s 2004 campaign.

“Overall, the results were disappointing, but as a team we made tremendous strides this season,” said Taliaferro looking back at 2004. “With all the adversity we had in injuries and rescheduling, it was hard for our team to build confidence, but I think that is going to make this team better in the future.”

“Perhaps the biggest thing coming out of this season is that our team chemistry is now stronger than it has ever been in my three seasons here at Miami. Everyone on this team is hungrier than ever before, no one is satisfied and we are going to carry that into next season.”

Looking Ahead to 2005

Ready to put the 2004 season behind them while setting their sights to the future, the Hurricanes will return 17 letterwinners next season while only losing four seniors.

“The core group of the players that have embraced the philosophy we are working towards have already started preparing for next year,” said Taliaferro. “Not scoring goals, not being as technical or as fit as some of the teams in the ACC, we know we can control those things and it means more now to this team.”

Although Taliaferro and the Hurricanes will have to deal with the departure of senior forward Britney Butcher, UM’s all-time leader in goals, shots and points, UM returns a strong nucleus of players including All-ACC Second Team selection Sheuneen Ta along Lindsey Yach, who is tied for second all-time in goals scored at Miami.

“Right now, we know we are missing a couple of positions on the field,” said Taliaferro. “We know we are a good team because we can create opportunities, but if we can get a little better in certain positions we can get over that edge and make an impact next season.”