By Justin Woods, For The Miami Student
Clad in its all-red away uniforms to close out a four-game road trip, the Miami University women's soccer team (3-1) emerged victorious Sunday at University of Louisville (2-3).
The RedHawks' 2-1 win over the Cardinals makes for three Miami triumphs against opposition from the Big Ten, Big East and Atlantic Coastal Conference, a feat that makes Miami head coach Bobby Kramig crack a smile.
"I'm very proud of this team," Kramig said. "I feel the Louisville result was the reward for an excellent two weeks of hard physical training. I thought we were better and I thought we deserved to win."
The first RedHawk goal came late in the first half courtesy of freshman midfielder Amy Malone. It was Malone's first collegiate goal.
"We had a corner kick and it ricocheted everywhere but I ended up getting enough toe on it to put it in the back of the net," Malone said. "It was pretty exciting. I couldn't believe it went in. I had to have my teammates tell me it went in, to be honest."
Louisville leveled the scoreline early in the second half, but Miami senior midfielder Kelsey Dinges answered quickly to regain the one-goal lead the RedHawks held until the final whistle.
Malone and the 'Hawks focused on maintaining their trademark assertive style of play even with a late one-goal lead, a scenario that would drive many sides toward conservative, defensive tactics.
"The whole time it felt like we were the aggressor on the field," Malone said. "We kept going at them and still wanted to score. We weren't just possessing it. I think we did well at being aware of what we had to do to finish the game off with a win."
Aside from the test the Cardinals presented as a squad, Miami had to deal with playing at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium, Louisville's state-of-the-art soccer facility, in front of a crowd of 1,661.
"We talked about [the Louisville stadium] in practice," Malone said. "We got five seconds of 'wow factor' and then we had to go out and kick some butt. Once we got out on the field and realized they were just normal soccer girls, we went out and [got the win]."
Kramig was impressed by how his squad stepped up to challenges this season and responded with results, but was not surprised.
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"If you're going to play tough teams, you have to have a tough mentality," Kramig said.
"You have to take a very aggressive posture in the game and you have to go right at them.
We have done that. We have played with a lot of poise and a lot of composure."
Miami opens its seven-game homestand at 1 p.m. Sunday against Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
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