It’s halfway through the regular season and the women’s soccer team has already made history.
Freshman goalkeeper Vikki Alonzo and the No. 19 Hurricanes (7-2-1) played No. 25 San Diego (5-2-2) to a scoreless double overtime tie Sunday afternoon at the UCLA Women’s Cup in Los Angeles, Calif.
It was Alonzo’s seventh shutout of the season, which surpassed Lauren McAdam’s single-season mark of six.
“I’m very pleased because, as a freshman, Vikki has exceeded expectations,” head coach Tricia Taliaferro said. “Through the first ten games, our team defense has been relentless and doesn’t give up clean shots.”
Although the Toreros outshot Miami 22-13 and Alonzo recorded a season-high 11 saves, the back line was able to prevent high percentage shots.
“We did what we wanted to do with tough competition and different styles,” Taliaferro said. “I’m very proud with how we responded after Friday’s game.”
The Hurricanes’ best opportunities came early in the first half when sophomore Brittney Steinbruch and freshman Ashlee Burt each ripped shots that Torero goalkeeper Brittany Cameron fully stretched out to block.
“I got one good kick and took it,” Burt said. “It was a good shot, but the goalie was fantastic.”
On Friday night, Miami fell 3-0 to second-ranked UCLA (6-0-1) on the first day of the tournament.
It was the second straight loss for the Hurricanes, who started the season with a seven-game winning streak.
Midfielder Christina DiMartino, who scored two goals for the Bruins, blasted a long-range shot in the 40th minute to give UCLA a 1-0 halftime lead.
“We were lucky to get out of the half at 1-0,” Taliaferro said. “Going into the second half, we wanted to do the same thing and keep our composure, keep the ball on the ground and we had more chances.”
Three minutes after DiMartino added her second goal in the 52nd minute, Steinbruch uncorked a shot that hit the bottom of the crossbar, which would’ve cut the deficit to one for the Canes.
“It would’ve given us momentum and more confidence,” Taliaferro said.
As the game dwindled down into its final moments, midfielder Kylie Wright extended the lead in the 87th minute with her first goal of the season off a rebound shot.
“They play together and gave us a good experience, and we need to take some of that and see where we need to be,” Taliaferro said. “All the players are frustrated because we could play better overall. Individually, we need to step it up and for us to respond to adversity.”
The Bruins held a 27-5 shot advantage against the Hurricanes and took nine corners. Sophomore Lauren Singer had both of Miami’s shots on goal.
“We definitely hope to see them again in the NCAAs,” Burt said. “We could do something different because we’re good enough. We need to step up to the challenge and learn a lesson from this game; we have to come fired up and hard right away and keep pressuring and never, ever stop. Ever.”
Miami returns home to host Virginia Tech Thursday at 7 p.m. in its first ACC match of the season.