Miami to Face No. 2 Duke on ESPN3
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – TheUniversity of Miami women’s soccer team battled hard in its Atlantic CoastConference opener Thursday night, but fell just short as visiting No. 14 WakeForest earned a 1-0 decision.
“This team really gave it to us last year,” head coach Tom Anagnost said after the game. “I think it says a lot about where we’ve come ina short amount of time.”
A 66th-minute strike from reigning ACC OffensivePlayer of the Year Katie Stengel proved the difference-maker, as Miami wasunable to convert despite a late flurry of chances.
After a mishap in the Hurricanes’ midfield, Wake Forestsenior Kristen Meier fed the ball to Stengel with her back to the goal insidethe 18-yard box. A quick turnaround strike past a diving Emily Lillard into thefar corner gave Wake Forest (7-1-1) a lead it would not relinquish.
Miami registered only four shots on the goal in the contest,forcing Wake keeper Aubrey Bledsoe into three saves.
“We played well defensively,but if we make less mistakes with the ball, we allow even less chances,”Anagnost said after the game. “We need to be more threatening in front of thegoal. There has to be more willingness up top to get something done.”
Despite the final outcome, the Hurricanes and Demon Deaconslooked evenly matched throughout the contest. Miami (4-3-1) producednumerous opportunities early, including dangerous back-to-back cornerkicks fromsenior Tina Romagnuolo in the 24th minute. Unfortunately for theHurricanes, Bledsoe was up to the task.
Lillard was forced into a spectacular save of her own in the17th minute after a miscommunication in the 18-yard box. After apoorly cleared ball was intercepted by Stengel, Lillard dove to her right tosnare a shot from the junior at the top of the box. Heading into halftime, thegame remained deadlocked at 0-0.
“If we begin learning from our mistakes, we can be a verygood team,” Anagnost said. “I’ve been saying this all along – the best playersand best teams are the most consistent, make the least amount of mistakes, andlearn from them. That was the difference in the game.”
Miami would press with four forwards in the game’s finalstages but were unable to convert, despite a late cornerkick from Tara Schwitter and a strike from freshmanJasmine Paterson as time ticked down.
The Hurricanes will continue their homestand on Sunday,Sept. 16 with a 1 p.m. match-up against visting No. 2 Duke University. The gameis set to be televised live on ESPN3.
“We play the No. 1 offensive team in the country Sunday,” Anagnostsaid about the upcoming contest. “We’re going to be in big trouble if we’re notconsistent.”
