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Nov. 10, 2002
Oxford, Ohio- For the third consecutive year, Miami's women's soccer team won the Mid-American Conference tournament championship by way of a 5-1 victory over Ohio University before a spirited crowd of 933 at Miami Soccer Field on Sunday afternoon.
The RedHawks left little doubt from the outset that they would seize its third title by scoring three first half goals in a less than 12 minutes.
The first goal came at 15:04 when senior forward Danielle Berkemeier (Fairfield, OH/Fairfield) found sophomore Ashley Swinehart (Worthington, OH/Worthington) streaking towards the goal. Swinehart dribbled the ball past the Bobcat defenders for a far-post score beyond goalkeeper Michelle Meglaughlin.
Miami struck again five minutes later with nifty passing in traffic in front of the goalmouth. Senior midfielder Shaedyn Cousino (Cincinnati, OH/Indian Hill) sent the ball to senior forward Andrea Cunningham (Cincinnati, OH/McAuley), who one-touched the ball to senior midfielder Danielle Altiero (Upper Arlington, OH/Upper Arlington) and Altiero sent the ball to the near-post to give the RedHawks a 2-0 advantage.
The high-powered offense scored again only six minutes (26:58) after the second goal. Altiero passed the ball ahead to the 2002 MAC Player of the Year, Berkemeier for the one-touch finish.
Ohio's offense did not produce a shot through the first 40 minutes and the RedHawks outshot the Bobcats 7-1 in the first half.
Down 3-0 going into the second half, the Bobcats were left with very few answers to Miami's smothering defense and explosive offense.
Senior defender Audry Wieman (Fisherville, KY/Sacred Heart) took Miami's lead to 4-0 in the 65th minute when she put home a direct kick over the head of Meglaughlin from just beyond the Bobcat penalty box.
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Ohio finally broke into the scoring column after Abby Leopold crossed the ball to Christel Schiering for Ohio's first points of the afternoon in the 74th minute.
Cunningham, the 2001 MAC player of the Year, capped the game by knocking a shot in the goal off an Ohio defender with less than one minute remaining.
The RedHawks' program-best 18th victory secured an NCAA Tournament bid for the third straight year. The NCAA will release brackets for the 2002 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship on Monday. The 2002 Women's Soccer Selection Show will air live Monday on ESPN NEWS at 4:30 p.m. The first round of the tournament is scheduled for Friday, November 15 at sites that will be announced on Monday.
2002 Mid-American Conference Soccer All-Tournament Team:
Shaedyn Cousino (Miami)
Katie Milligan (Miami)
Danielle Berkemeier (Miami)
Tricia Gill (Miami)
Abby Leopold (Ohio)
Kendra Hornschemeier (Ohio)
Rachel Najjar (Ohio)
Kristy Coppes (Bowling Green)
Erica Flanders (Bowling Green)
Eileen Weinheimer (Ball St.)
K.D. Moreland (Ball St.)
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