Sept. 30, 2001

Stats

Miami University's women's soccer team moved to 3-0 in the Mid-American Conference for the first time in program history Sunday afternoon, rolling to a season-best five goals in a 5-3 defeat of Kent State University.

Tied 2-2 at halftime, Miami roared to life in the second half, tacking on three goals and cruising to its sixth win in the past seven games. Danielle Berkemeier (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield), who tied a Miami record Friday night with three assists, led the Red and White with two goals.

"It was a crazy game," Head Coach Bobby Kramig said. "We didn't play all that well in the first half, but we recovered and really took control in the second half. I don't like that we gave up three goals, but Kent State is a very tough team to defend. I was very pleased with our effort."

Miami had initially rolled to a 2-0 lead by the 13:15 mark of the first half. Berkemeier scored the game's first goal in the 10th minute when she scored off a Tricia Gill (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) assist. Exactly four minutes later, Danielle Altiero (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) netted her second goal in the last two games to put Miami comfortably ahead.

Just over a minute later, though, Kent State got the ball rolling. Stacey Rust headed a goal past Miami goalkeeper Katie Karlander (Carmel, Ind./Syracuse) at 16:29 and Lauren Caminati knotted the score with an unassisted goal in the 32nd minute.

The RedHawks regained control of the match during a 12-minute span of the second half. Freshman Laura Freel (Atlanta, Ga./Westminster) put Miami in front at 62:40 with her first collegiate goal-a 25-yard blast that went over the Golden Flash goalkeeper. Less than four minutes later, Andrea Cunningham (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) netted her team-best third goal of the weekend when she scored off a corner kick that was served by Altiero. Berkemeier rounded out the Miami barrage at 74:07 with an unassisted score.

Kent State, which dropped to 3-7 and 2-4 in the MAC, finally broke the run with Caminati's second goal at 81:34, but it was too little, too late. Karlander earned her sixth win in seven outings this season while making eight saves for the RedHawks. Miami's five goals were the most ever scored versus a MAC opponent.

"This was a very tough trip for us," Kramig said. "Anytime you face two quality MAC teams on the road and come out with a pair of wins, you have to be happy. The fact that we scored nine goals in those two games was definitely a bonus."

Miami, now 6-3 overall and 3-0 in the Mid-American Conference, returns to Oxford at 4 p.m. Thursday to make up a postponed contest with the University of Toledo. The RedHawks host the University of Akron at 1 p.m. next Sunday.

Printer-friendly format	Email this article