By Harrison Schwarz, For The Miami Student
The Miami University women's soccer team improved its conference record to 5-1 (9-4 overall) after beating both Ohio University 1-0 Friday and Kent State University 1-0 Sunday. Ohio fell to 2-7 on the season, while Kent State fell to 7-5-2.
The RedHawks have won seven of their last eight games, and the credit goes to their defense and netminder. Junior goalie Vic Maniaci has six shutouts on the season. Kent State (7-5-2, 3-3 MAC), entered the game as the highest-scoring team in the MAC, but did not score a single goal on seven shots.
Maniaci praised her teammates after the game.
"It's really exciting," Maniaci said. "I owe a lot to my defenders and my midfielders and really everyone all the way up the line. I didn't even have to do much today. My teammates made it really easy for me. I'm just really excited for the rest of the season."
Junior defender Dana Miller shut down KSU's star and leading scorer, junior forward Jenna Hellstrom. Miller was proud of the way she and her co-defenders played.
"We came out with a lot of energy," Miller said. "We had a good, hard practice week. We knew it was going to be tough for us. We didn't want to let anything up. We had a shutout on Friday. We knew they were the top team in our MAC division so we knew the game was going to be a battle."
Each team traded possession for much of the first half in Sunday's game. At the end of the half, Miami led in shots by a margin of 7-3, but neither team had scored.
The second half continued much like the first, but MU controlled the possession. Junior midfielder Stephanie Dillon and freshman midfielder Korrie Saunder both had great opportunities to score in the second half, but game remained tied at 0-0 at the end of regulation.
With the 'Hawks leading in shots 14-5, the game headed into sudden death overtime.
Miami caught a break with 3:06 on the clock when freshman forward Ashley Weathers lofted a pass that bounced over the keeper and trickled into the net.
Weathers was astonished the goal went in.
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"I mean, I was trying to find my teammate Rachel Marble," she said. "Then the ball just bounded over the keeper's head."
MU's matchup against OU on Friday was another tough match.
Neither team saw a scoring chance until the 22nd minute, when senior midfielder Haley Walter sent a shot wide.
In the 35th minute, Dillon slipped a pass to Walter in the box, who delivered a pass to freshman midfielder Katie Sauder. Sauder sent a shot into the back of the net, putting Miami up 1-0.
The RedHawks totaled five shots on goal to the Bobcats' two.
MU continues conference play against Western Michigan University and Northern Illinois University next weekend.
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