Two weekends, three wins. So far, it’s been a pretty good start for the Miami Hurricanes women’s soccer team. However, the Hurricanes suffered their first bad loss on the season Thursday night, a Golden Goal defeat at the hands of Texas-Rio Grande Valley.
That first weekend, marked by a road opener against FAU and a home match against FIU, saw Miami score goals aplenty (seven in two games). Since then, however, the scoring has slowed. One goal against Vanderbilt and one against Lipscomb.
UT-RGV looked like an opportunity to get back on track. While the Vaqueros did enter Cobb Stadium with a winning record (3-2), it was all against competition outside the five major conferences. Despite that fact, UT-RGV managed to fluster Miami’s attack for more than 90 minutes.
It looked like that frustration wouldn’t matter right before halftime, when in the 41st minute UT-RGV’s keeper junior goalkeeper Kinga Szemik mismanaged a clearance, connecting at the same time as Rachel Sorkenn did. The ball squirted away, right to Morgan Asmussen, who scored one of the easiest goals she’ll ever tally for the Hurricanes. The mistake provided Miami’s only goal.
“Morgan did well. She’s come in and given us a little bit of a burst of energy and her quickness has been helpful,” Barnes told HurricaneSports.com after the game. “So, obviously it was great to see her score her first [collegiate] goal.”
Second-half struggle
After the break, the rain started to fall in Coral Gables, and the game began to turn. The match was tied in the 71st minute, when Emily Zapata dug out an impressive cross from the left side of the box, junior Diana Ansah was able to put her head on it with force, and keeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce had no way to stop it.
In the third minute of extra time, it was Zapata again who made the difference. After a spectacular ball played from their own end, Zapta shrugged off Miami’s Lexi Castellano, had a one-on-one with Tullis-Joyce and again bested the Hurricanes keeper. All that was left was the celebration for the Vaqueros.
The Miami Hurricanes will look to get back to their winning ways on Sunday, when the Hurricanes host UCF at Cobb Stadium at 6 p.m.
