On Sunday evening, Miami soccer picked up its second win of the young season, as the Hurricanes (2-0-2) won 1-0 over the visiting North Florida Ospreys (1-2).
The match’s lone goal came in the 51st minute from redshirt junior forward Jackie Koerwitz.
As the University of North Florida (UNF) defense looked to advance the ball from deep in their own half, Koerwitz applied hard pressure and pickpocketed the ball, leaving her one-on-one in scoring position with Osprey goalkeeper Sofia Miliancano.
“We definitely came into the season wanting to press higher up the field and turn teams over more often,” Miami head coach Sarah Barnes said to Miami Athletics. “That was great execution of what we’ve been working on.”
Once given the opportunity to score, Koerwitz took advantage, chipping a beautifully lofted shot toward the left side of the goal. Miliancano got a hand to the ball with a spectacular diving effort but was unable to prevent it from nestling in the back of the net.
The Hurricanes’ goal was followed by a comfortable Miami dominance for the remainder of the match. This was in contrast from a scrappy and tightly contested first half which saw the home team struggle to move the ball into their attacking third, as UNF maintained possession of the ball well and did most of the attacking.
“I thought we played much better in the second half. We possessed the ball better and played more attack-minded,” Barnes said.
Throughout the night, senior goalkeeper Melissa Dagenais and the Miami defense were up to the task, keeping the Ospreys at bay with few scoring chances. UNF managed just one shot on goal in the match.
“The team did a pretty good job of cleaning up a lot of their through balls,” Barnes said. “They were very aggressive, and I thought we managed their players well in that way. So, certainly credit to the defense and Mel in terms of the clean sheet.”
Miami’s defense has yet to concede a goal this season, keeping four clean sheets in the opening four matches for the first time in program history.
In comparison, UM’s attack has logged just two goals across the opening 360 minutes of the season, leaving room for improvement on that end of the pitch.
The Hurricanes will look to maintain their sturdy defense and unearth a potent attack in their next match when Florida International visits Cobb Stadium on Thursday night at 7 p.m.