No. 9 Florida State Outlasts Miami, 2-0

Oct. 12, 2008

CORAL GABLES – The University of Miami women’s soccer team (7-6-2, 0-4-1) allowed a goal in each half to the No. 9 Florida State Seminoles (10-2-1, 4-1-0) in a 2-0 loss, Sunday afternoon at Cobb Stadium.

In the 11th minute, FSU’s Tiffany McCarty scored on a one vs. one inside the right post after she had a long run to the center of the box on a pass from Casey Short.

The Hurricanes tried to limit the Seminole attack by playing a very compact defense. With the exception of the two scoring plays, the strategy worked, as Florida State was called offside on eight occasions.

Miami came out from the break with the goal of putting more pressure on the visitors defense and they did, creating scoring opportunities on set pieces and just missing on crosses through the box.

The second FSU goal came in the 66th minute when Sarah Wagenfuhr lobbed a pass into the middle of the box, where Sanna Talonen leapt and headed the ball into the right side of the net for her eighth goal of the season.

“This was actually a better performance than we have had in the last couple weeks,” said head coach Tricia Taliaferro. “I thought we created enough chances to get a goal, even two. But, we let ourselves down with a couple defensive lapses.”

For the game, Miami was outshot by their opponent 15-5, and the game was played physically as they were a total of 30 fouls called. Freshman Vikki Alonzo was called upon to make six saves on the day.

“We have nothing to lose, we have been struggling since the beginning of the ACC schedule, but we are getting some injured players back,” said senior Rachel Rigamat. “We are going into this upcoming week very confident.

Miami heads back to road on Thursday, Oct., 16 when they face Clemson. The Hurricanes return to Cobb Stadium when they take on Duke, Thursday, Oct. 23.