Miami Faces the 11th-Ranked Florida Gators in Opener

Aug. 19, 2010

CORAL GABLES –

The University of Miami women’s soccer team is ready for its season-opening weekend beginning this Friday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m. in Gainesville.

Head coach Tricia Taliaferro has been pleased with her squad this preseason and looks forward to facing the No. 11 Florida Gators in the opener,  which will be televised live on Sun Sports.

“We have worked hard over the last nine months as a group and are anxious to start playing games,” said Taliaferro.  “The mindset in the athletic department at Miami is to win and I am excited to be the first team to compete in 2010 and continue what is a great rivalry with the Gators.”

The `Canes faced the then No. 8 ranked Gators in the season and home-opener a year ago. The match attracted a school record 2,277 fans, but a second half goal from UF’s Ashlee Elliott was the difference in a 1-0 final.

On Sunday, Aug. 22, the Hurricanes will face the Stetson Hatters of the Atlantic Sun Conference at 1 p.m. in DeLand, Fla.

In 2008, UM was scheduled to face Stetson on the road to open the season, but Tropical Storm Fay forced the game to be played in Coral Gables instead and Miami came away with a 3-0 victory.

In eight meetings, Stetson has only defeated Miami once – 2-1 in 2005.

Miami is led by seniors Brittney Steinbruch and Brittney Macdonald. Steinbruch is just two goals shy of becoming the program’s all-time leading goal scorer and Macdonald has been the anchor of the defense ever since she stepped on campus in 2007.

Every good defense has a good goalkeeper and junior Vikki Alonzo has been the best in school history. In just her sophomore season, the Carrollton, Texas native set the school record for career shutouts, currently sitting at 17.

You can follow all University of Miami teams on Twitter by visiting http://api.twitter.com/hurricanesports or follow just women’s soccer at http://twitter.com/canessoccer .  Visit hurricanesport.com and Miami Hurricanes Soccer on facebook to get all the up-to-date news and information on the women’s soccer team.