On Senior Night Saturday at Cobb Stadium, the No. 25 Miami women’s soccer team tied Clemson 1-1 after two overtimes, moving them to 9-4-4 on the season and 4-2-2 in the ACC.
Earlier this week, the Canes moved into the top 25. This is the first time this season the team has been ranked.
“It’s important to validate what we’ve done,” Head Coach Tricia Taliaferro said. “It’s a compliment to our team.”
After a tough loss to the Florida State Seminoles last weekend, newly-ranked Hurricanes were trying to get back to their winning ways.
“We didn’t change anything,” Taliaferro said. “Our biggest thing was getting rest.”
In the seniors’ last home game, the Hurricanes came out flat in the first half and had a difficult time getting past a stingy Clemson defense. In the eighth minute, Clemson senior Nuria Zufia scored on a cross from sophomore Molly Franklin.
“We were disappointed with how we played in the first half,” Taliaferro said.
While Clemson dominated the first half, the Canes out-shot the Tigers 12-7 in both the second half and overtime periods.
“In the second half we came out a lot stronger,” senior Sheuneen Ta said. “They were getting tired and we dominated overtime.”
In the 84th minute, sophomore Beverly Goebel scored on a header off a corner kick by defender Jessica Wyble. Late in the half, Goebel nearly sealed a win for the Canes on a nice pass by senior Akilah Moore, but her shot went wide right.
In the overtime periods, Miami continued their dominance keeping the play in the offensive zone and giving up only one shot on goal.
The game was a physical one in which one yellow card was given to each team.
“We just stayed mentally focused,” Ta said. “He [the referee] is going to make calls and we can’t change that.”
Hundreds of fans came out to pay tribute to their 2007 seniors in yet another critical ACC game.
“It helps a lot when you have fans cheering,” Ta said. “It gets us hyped as well.”
The senior class is made up of six players, including four starters.
“They [the seniors] are unbelievable,” Taliaferro said. “When I took over this team during the rebuilding stage we were looking for good character, good people, and hard-working players. They have really helped mold the younger players into what we are looking for here at Miami. They are going to be truly missed,” Taliaferro added.
The Hurricanes will now head to Duke and Wake Forest this week to close out the regular season before the ACC tournament.
“It’s huge,” Taliaferro said in reference to the next two games. “Every single game, every point is important.”
Rory Lincoln may be contacted at r.lincoln@umiami.edu.