Soccer Closes Out Homestand With No. 15 VTech
CORAL GABLES, Fla.—The Miami Hurricanes look to close out their four-match homestand on a high note Thursday when they battle No. 15 Virginia Tech at Cobb Stadium.
“We’ve had a good week of training preparing for a very good Virginia Tech team,” head coach Mary-Frances Monroe said Wednesday.
Following Thursday’s match, Miami will hit the road for its next four matches, with tilts slated against Notre Dame (Oct. 12), Clemson (Oct. 18), NC State (Oct. 23) and North Carolina (Oct. 26).
Miami will wrap up the 2014 regular season at home against Wake Forest (Nov. 2) on Senior Day.
The high-octane Hokies offense includes leading scorer Murielle Tiernan (nine goals, three assists), Shannon Mayrose (five goals, three assists) and Alani Johnson (four goals, three assists). Seven Hokies players have three or more goals.
“They have some creative personalities that we will have to deal with,” Monroe said. “But we’re excited to play them on our home turf.”
Miami has plenty to build on coming off their most recent performance at home against No. 2 Florida State. Facing one of the nation’s most talented offenses, Miami held the Seminoles scoreless through nearly 70 minutes of play before conceding the game’s first goal.
Despite the loss, Monroe was encouraged by her team’s performance against Florida State. The Hurricanes recent impressive run of play also includes a double-overtime draw with Louisville on Sept. 28.
The Hurricanes have their work cut out for them against a talented Hokies club that qualified for the College Cup for the first time in program history a season ago. But Miami is confident after that strong showing against the Seminoles – who needed a free kick in the 65th minute to break a 0-0 deadlock – that it can solve Virginia Tech.
“We did some very good things in our last game against FSU, and look to continue that and create scoring chances,” Monroe said.
Miami’s defense will be tested once again, but so far this season its defensive backline has been up to the challenge. Team captains Shannon McCarthy and Maddie Simms – joined by sophomores Gianna Dal Pozzo and Gracie Lachowecki – have formed a talented defensive front.
Simms continued her personal stretch of 67 straight starts last Saturday against Florida State.
Kickoff for Thursday’s match is set for 7 p.m. at Cobb Stadium. Live Stats will be available through miami.statbroadcast.com, while a live stream ($) will be available through HurricaneSports.com at kickoff.
