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Sept. 26, 2001
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REDHAWKS HEAD EAST FOR MAC BATTLES WITH BUFFALO AND KENT STATE: With a challenging non-conference schedule now behind it, Miami University's women's soccer team returns its focus to Mid-American Conference play this weekend when it travels to University at Buffalo and Kent State University.
Buffalo, which currently leads the MAC with three league wins, stands at 4-4 following a hard-fought overtime victory at Bowling Green last weekend. Last year's regular-season MAC Champions, the Bulls have won three of their last four contests since a season-long three-game losing streak. In MAC play, Jean A. Tassy's squad has earned victories over Akron, Kent State and Bowling Green while suffering its sole league loss at Toledo. Leading the Bulls is Nicole Olszewski, who leads the MAC in both goals and assists. Olszewski, who tallied two goals and an assist last weekend, has six goals and five assists total. Emily Cox has seen the majority of time in goals this year for the Bulls, amassing a 1.73 goals against average and a 3-4-0 record.
Kent State, which is attempting to make its third consecutive MAC Tournament appearance after a slow start, stands at 2-6-0 overall but is fresh off its first league victory, a 2-0 blanking of Northern Illinois last weekend. The Golden Flashes, who busted out of a six-game losing skid with the win, had been winless since an Aug. 31 overtime defeat of Robert Morris. Coached by first-year mentor Rob Marinaro, the Golden Flashes are led in scoring by Lauren Caminati and Jaclyn Pecjak, who each have two goals. Kent State has struggled finding the back of the net thus far, tallying just five goals in eight Matches. Lindsey Mitchell has seen all the time in goal for the Flashes this season and maintains a solid 1.86 GAA.
MIAMI-BUFFALO SERIES HISTORY: Two of the most successful programs in the MAC over the past three seasons, Miami and Buffalo have clashed four times with the average margin of victory standing at one goal. Since a 0-0 tie in the programs' inaugural meeting, Miami has taken three straight from the Bulls to claim a 3-0-1 series advantage. Last season, the league rivals met twice, with Miami claiming a 2-1 win in Oxford and a 2-0 MAC Semifinal win in Buffalo. Miami is 2-0-0 versus the Bulls on their home turf.
MIAMI-KENT STATE SERIES HISTORY: Miami and Kent State are meeting for the fifth time with the series currently tied at two wins apiece. The Golden Flashes swept the teams' first two meetings, winning 2-1 in 1997 and 1-0 in 1998, but the RedHawks have since evened the series with a 3-2 double-overtime win in 1999 and a 3-1 win in Oxford last season. Miami is 1-1 versus the Golden Flashes on their home field.
THEY'RE BACK: The long trip to Buffalo should provide a healthy dose of nostalgia for Miami's women's soccer team, as the RedHawks return to the site of their 2000 MAC Tournament Championship. Miami entered the MAC Tournament as the No. 4 seed a year ago but defeated top-seeded Buffalo on its home field in the semifinals and went on to defeat Bowling Green in overtime for the championship. Miami is a perfect 3-0 all-time at Buffalo's RAC Field.
MIAMI AWAY FROM HOME: Miami, which typically has been a spectacular team at home but just an average team on the road, seems to have reversed the trend this season. Thus far, the RedHawks are a flawless 4-0 when playing at an opponents' venue and 0-3 when playing at neutral sites or home. Historically, Miami has posted a 22-21-2 (.511) record away from home, with 1999's 8-3-1 road mark standing as the program's only season with a winning road record. Of 15 Miami losses and ties over the past three seasons, 11 have come away from home. The RedHawk record for consecutive road victories, which could be topped this weekend, is five.
MIAMI IN THE MAC: Now entering its fifth season in the Mid-American Conference, Miami owns a 20-18-2 regular-season record versus MAC opponents. Since struggling to just four combined league wins through their first two seasons, the RedHawks have begun to assert themselves over the past two years, winning eight league contests in 1999 and seven in 2000. The RedHawks have been a dismal 7-12-0 versus regular-season MAC foes on the road with last season's 3-2-0 road mark standing as the program's only winning road mark in regular-season MAC Play.
A LOOK BACK: During a very challenging week, in which the RedHawks faced three quality opponents in six days, Miami pulled itself above .500 for the first time this season and also picked up its first MAC win. On Sept. 17, led by Andrea Cunningham's (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) first game-winning goal of the season and Katie Karlander's (Carmel, Ind./Syracuse) second shutout, Miami earned a 1-0 victory over area-rival Cincinnati on the Bearcats' home turf. Last Friday, the Red and White made the long journey to Mt. Pleasant, Mich., for an early battle of MAC supremacy. The RedHawks, who were favored to win the MAC in the preseason, defeated Central Michigan, which was picked second, 2-1 on an Ashley Swinehart (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington) goal. On Sunday a weary Miami squad returned to Oxford to take on a very strong Utah team in its home opener. The Utes cashed in two penalty kicks on the way to a 3-0 blanking of the RedHawks.
ALL GOOD THINGS...: A number of good things came to an end in last Sunday's 3-0 loss to Utah. Along with the RedHawks' four-game winning streak coming to a halt, Miami was shut out for the first time in 15 games and blanked at home for the first time in 24 games. Also coming to an end was a program-record nine-game scoring streak by junior Danielle Berkemeier (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield), who had tallied a goal or assist in nine straight games dating back to last season's MAC Tournament.
REDHAWKS CRACK GREAT LAKES TOP 10: Despite a disappointing loss to Utah last Sunday, Miami's defeats of Cincinnati and Central Michigan on the road did not go unnoticed. In this week's edition of the NSCAA Great Lakes Region poll, Miami was ranked No.10. The RedHawks, who are the only MAC team included in the Top 10, have never cracked the Great Lakes Region Top 10 in midseason.
HEAD COACH BOBBY KRAMIG: Entering his fifth season at the helm of Miami's women's soccer program is veteran head coach Bobby Kramig. Kramig, who has headed the women's program since its inception in 1997, has been the mentor of Miami Soccer for the past 18 years.
As women's coach, Kramig has successfully guided the program through its transition from club to varsity status. In 1997, the inaugural team finished the season ranked fourth in the nation among first-year programs and placed three players on the Soccer Buzz magazine first-year all-national team. In 1999, Kramig led the RedHawks to a landmark season that included a trip to the MAC Championship match and a Miami record 17 wins.
Last season, Kramig led the Red and White deep into the postseason, guiding the RedHawks to a 13-8-0 overall record, a MAC Tournament Championship and an NCAA Tournament berth. Kramig's soccer team was the only Miami team sport to make an NCAA Tournament appearance in the 2000-01 campaign.
Now in its fifth season, Miami has compiled a 46-35-4 mark (.565), including an astonishing mark of 31-11-1 (.733) and consecutive MAC Championship appearances during the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
ROAD WARRIORS: RedHawk soccer fans have not had any opportunities to see their favorite team in action early in the 2001 season. With the postponement of last the Sept. 14 home opener versus Toledo, which has been rescheduled for Oct. 4, Miami played its first six games on the road. After finally returning home to face Utah, the RedHawks are right back on the road this weekend, rounding out a stint in which they play eight of their first nine games away from home.
During Miami's travels, the RedHawks play in five different states (Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan and New York) and travel more than 2,340 miles. Miami's foes during the difficult roadstand include SMU, which entered the season nationally ranked, Georgetown, Wright State, which was tabbed to finish second in the Horizon League, Cincinnati, which was picked fourth in Conference USA, Central Michigan, which was tabbed second in the MAC's preseason poll, and defending MAC regular-season champion Buffalo.
BERKEMEIER'S AMAZING RUN: Though the 2000 season paled statistically when compared to her sensational freshman campaign, Miami forward Danielle Berkemeier (Fairfield, Ohio/Fairfield) peaked at the right time and has been riding high ever since. Beginning with Miami's 2-0 MAC Semifinal defeat of Buffalo last season, in which she tallied the game-winning goal, Berkemeier tallied a goal or assist in nine consecutive contests until the entire team was blanked last Sunday versus Utah. She found the back of the net in seven of those nine games, netting three game-winning goals while assisting on another. Ironically, she returns to Buffalo this weekend, where here Miami-record streak began.
CUNNINGHAM STILL ON THE MOVE: Following a remarkable 2000 campaign in which she earned first-team all-America status from the NSCAA, junior forward Andrea Cunningham (Cincinnati, Ohio/McAuley) has picked up where she left off. Though she was kept off the scoreboard in season-opening losses to SMU and Georgetown, Cunningham came to life over the span of the next three games, tallying three goals and an assist, including her eighth career multiple-goal game versus Wright State. Versus Cincinnati, the junior extended her goal-scoring streak to three games, tallying the game-winner. Despite the strong non-conference start, Cunningham traditionally has been stronger versus MAC foes, netting 21 of her 34 career goals in MAC outings.
LENDING A HELPING FOOT: Known as a playmaking midfielder, Miami sophomore Danielle Altiero (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) was at her best in a 3-0 blanking of Wright State on Sept. 7. Altiero assisted on all three Miami first-half goals to establish a Miami record. Altiero has amassed a total of six career assists, including four this season, in her first 26 games as a RedHawk and is easily on pace to rank among the program's all-time assist leaders. She currently ranks in a second-place tie in the MAC for assists.
THICK IN THE MIDDLE: As expected, a deep Miami midfield is already making contributions to the success of this season's team. Along with the many contributions that cannot be measured with statistics, midfielders Shaedyn Cousino (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill) and Danielle Altiero (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington) have contributed six of the team's nine assists thus far. In all, seven individuals have seen significant time in the Miami midfield this season.
Senior fixtures Quinn Brady (Glen Rock, N.J./Glen Rock) and Julie Grosso (Dublin, Ohio/Scioto) are back to lead the established midfield, along with juniors Cousino, a two-time all-MAC honoree, and Katie Milligan (Strongsville, Ohio/Strongsville), a 2000 MAC all-Tournament selection. The midfield has been lent additional depth by talented freshmen Laura Freel (Atlanta, Ga./Westminster) and Megan Shapiro (Grosse Pointe, Mich.) and Ashley Swinehart (Worthington, Ohio/Worthington).
MOVING ON: Though the losses of four-year starters Maggie Lyon, a four-time all-Ohio selection, and Tonja Weimer, a two-time all-MAC selection, to graduation have certainly left their mark, Miami's defense has adjusted well in its first five contests. After giving up two goals each in losses to SMU and Georgetown, the defense has put on the clamps, allowing just three goals, excluding penalty kicks, over the past five matches.
Junior Katie Mach (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) and sophomore Tricia Gill (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) have led the RedHawk defender corps, making six starts apiece. Senior Courtney Carey (Cincinnati, Ohio/St. Ursula) and junior Audry Wieman (Fisherville, Ky./Sacred Heart) each have five starts.
A RED BRICK WALL: After giving up two goals in a 2-1 loss to Georgetown in her first start as a RedHawk, junior transfer Katie Karlander (Carmel, Ind./Syracuse) took on the appearance of a red brick wall, blanking the opposition for more than 330 consecutive minutes. After shutting out the Hoyas for the entire second half of her season-opening loss, Karlander went on to blank Wright State, 3-0, played 75 scoreless minutes in a 3-1 Louisville win and shut down Cincinnati, 1-0. Central Michigan finally found its way past Karlander in the 28th minute of Miami's 2-1 win. Karlander surrendered another goal, along with two penalty kicks, in last Sunday's loss at Utah, leaving her goals against average at a very solid 1.03.
WHAT A RUN: After struggling through its first two seasons as a varsity program, the last two seasons have been a dream for the Red and White. During the 1999 and 2000 seasons, Miami forged an impressive 30-11-1 record, made two trips to the MAC Championship Game, won a MAC Tournament championship and earned an NCAA Tournament berth. During that same stretch, Miami went from last in the MAC in goals per game to leading the league the past two seasons.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS: Though, as head coach Bobby Kramig says, the proof is in the pudding, Miami earned more than its share of preseason recognition. Miami was picked to finish first in Ohio and first in the Mid-American Conference. Previously, the RedHawks had never been a preseason favorite in Ohio or the MAC. In the MAC poll, Miami received an impressive nine first-place votes and finished 18 votes ahead of second-place Central Michigan, amassing 160 of a possible 169 points.
BUILDING FOR THE PRESENT: According to Soccerbuzz.com, Miami's most recent recruiting class was another great step toward building the program for the present and future. Soccerbuzz.com ranked the 2001 recruiting class 39th nationally and fourth in the Great Lakes Region. Miami was the only MAC school ranked in the Top 50.
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