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Oct. 15, 2002
Miami continues their road trips when they head to DeKalb, Ill. to face Northern Illinois on Friday and then to Kalamazoo, Mich. to take on Western Michigan on Sunday. The RedHawks hope to keep their tenth-place ranking in the Great Lakes Region, according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and Soccerbuzz.com, when they take on the two Mid-American Conference foes.
Northern Illinois is hoping to get back on track against the RedHawks after suffering a 1-0 loss to Loyola and 4-1 loss to Western Michigan. Going into last weekend, Northern Illinois was on a three-game MAC winning streak. East Carolina transfer goalkeeper Leigh Steigerwald has recorded three shutouts for the Huskies since taking over in goal. Steigerwald leads the MAC in saves per game with 7.50. Miami is on a three-game winning streak over Northern Illinois and leads the all-time series to 3-2.
When Miami faces Western Michigan in Kalamazoo on Sunday, the Broncos will look to keep it a low scoring event. Western Michigan has allowed only 12 goals in 12 games and has not allowed more than one goal since Sept. 11 when Detroit scored two. The Bronco freshmen have played a key part in the teams offensive productivity, scoring 19 of 57 points. Freshman Andrea Tyler leads the way with three goals and six assists. Miami leads the series 5-1, although both schools have won at their home field in the last two meetings.
A LOOK BACK: With three MAC games to play in the 2002 season, Miami opened a two-game conference lead (8-1 MAC, 11-2-1 overall) with a victory over second-place Ball State in Muncie, Ind. The teams battled for 73 minutes in Sunday afternoon's contest before Andrea Cunningham and Ashley Swinehart converted back-to-back goals in less than two minutes to give Miami a 2-0 victory.
Miami put forth another strong defensive effort on Friday night at Butler, picking up its 10th win of the season on an overtime goal by senior forward Danielle Berkemeier to win 1-0 . Freshman goalkeeper Leigh Terry collected two shutouts this weekend.
QUICK START: The RedHawks are off to their best start in Mid-American Conference play history with an 8-1 mark. Until this year, Miami had started 7-2 after nine MAC games for the three previous years. The Red and White are a half-game behind their best all-time start with an 11-2-1 record. In 1999, Miami went 12-2 during their first 14 games.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN: Miami has been far more successful in the past on its home turf posting a 34-16-4 mark, however, the RedHawks have also excelled on the road. Since Sept. 9 of 2001 the RedHawks have posted a 13-3-0 mark. Miami has a 26-25-2 mark away from Miami Soccer Field over the past five years on the road, but has managed only one season with a winning road record before 2001, a 7-3-1 mark in 1999. The Red and White used a strong postseason run, to finish the 2000 road ledger at 5-5.
THE VOTES ARE IN: For the first time during the 2002 season, Miami was rated by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The RedHawks entered the poll rated tenth. The RedHawks were also rated tenth in the Soccerbuzz.com Great Lakes Region poll.
This is the first time in school history that the RedHawks have had their name on four consecutive polls. The RedHawks were receiving votes the last three weeks before this week's tenth-place rating.
Miami ended the season last year with their highest rating in school history, seventh place in Soccerbuzz Great Lakes Region.
HOT KEEPER: Freshman goalkeeper Leigh Terry has not allowed a goal in over 268 minutes and has tallied five of Miami's eight shutouts this season. This is the second longest scoreless streak that Miami has amassed during the 2002 campaign. The streak includes a shutout at Ball State and an overtime shutout at Butler. The last goal that Terry gave up came in the ninth minute against Eastern Michigan on Oct. 6th.
The longest shutout and scoreless streak Miami holds in 2002 ended at five games and 554 minutes when Ohio's Rachael Najjar scored in the 49th minute on Sept. 27. The streak included five straight shutouts that dated back to Sept. 6th when the RedHawks gave up a goal in the 54th minute against St. John's.
Miami has shutout eight of their last 11 opponents.
The 554 minutes of scoreless play breaks a Miami record that dates back to the RedHawks' 2000 MAC Tournament Championship run in which they had 317 scoreless minutes. The streak included victories over Ohio, Buffalo, and a double-overtime win over Bowling Green.
The RedHawks eight shutouts on the 2002 season breaks their season totals in 1999 and 2000, and is second to the nine shutouts the Miami goalkeepers recorded last year.
GIVING SOPHOMORES: Of the 27 assists that the 2002 RedHawks have recorded, 14 of them have come from sophomores. Ashley Swinehart leads the Red and White and is tied for the lead in the MAC with seven assists. Laura Freel is only two behind with five, while Megan Shapiro has added two more to the sophomore tally.
Four of Swinehart's seven assists have come when she crossed the ball into the action in front of the goal. Two of Swinehart's assists have come off flip throw-ins that carried from the sideline to Danielle Altiero who one-touched the ball in the net. The latest assist for Swinehart came in overtime at Butler, when she fed Danielle Berkemeier for the game-winner.
Freel notched an assist at Akron on Sept. 22 and one against Buffalo on Sept. 29 adding to the three she recorded on the weekend of Sept. 13-15.
Shapiro notched the most recent sophomore assist when she fed Andrea Cunningham for the game-winner at Ball State on Sunday. Shapiro's only other assist was to Altiero for the game-winner in overtime in Miami's first win of the season at Stony Brook, N.Y. on Aug. 30th.
Swinehart's seven assists and Freel's five assists during the 2002 season give them eleven and seven career assists, respectively. Shapiro had one assist last year to add to her two this year.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior Andrea Cunningham added another accolade to her impressive career by earning Mid-American Conference Player of the Week after she scored the game-winner in the 74th minute against the second-place team, Ball State.
Cunningham has seven goals and two assists on her 2002 campaign. The game-winner over Ball State was her first of the season. The RedHawk captain currently stands first in the MAC for all-time career goals scored with 52, ninth in the MAC for all-time career assists with 19, and second in all-time points with 123.
TWO OF A KIND: Senior Danielle Berkemeier maintained the lead in the Mid-American Conference all-time point list after she scored a game-winning goal against Butler and had an assist at Ball State this weekend. Fellow senior Andrea Cunningham kept pace with an assist at Butler and a game-winning goal at Ball State. Cunningham has 123 all-time points while Berkemeier carries 125 career points.
Cunningham surpassed former Buffalo standout Paula Listrani as the MAC's career scoring leader on a second-half goal versus Buffalo on Nov. 6, 2001.
Berkemeier passed Listrani's 105 all-time points with a game-winning goal versus Georgia Southern on Sept. 8, 2002 to win the inaugural Miami/Adidas Invitational.
Berkemeier and Cunningham are the only players in Miami soccer history (men's or women's), and second and third in MAC women's soccer history, to surpass the century mark for career points.
MISS CLUTCH: All five the goals scored by Danielle Altiero have come when the Miami offense needed it the most. Three of Altiero's goals have been game-winners, coming against Stony Brook, Buffalo and Eastern Michigan. Another one of her goals earned a tie against St. John's and the last goal was the insurance goal against Buffalo to add to her game-winner in a 2-0 victory.
REDHAWKS FIGHTING CANCER: The Miami women's soccer has teamed up with the Greater Cincinnati Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation to combat the most common form of cancer among women. For every home goal Miami scores during its 2002 season, the women's soccer program will donate $20 to the foundation.
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Research Program is regarded as one of the most innovative and responsive grant programs in breast cancer today. As a pioneer in the funding of ground-breaking breast cancer research, the Komen Foundation is often the only source of funding for cutting-edge breast cancer research, much of which has led to landmark discoveries in the quest to find a cure for and eventually prevent breast cancer.
A representative of the Cincinnati affiliate will be on hand for Miami's Oct. 31 match with Purdue to take part in a special donation ceremony.
REDHAWKS PROMOTIONS: Halftime of every home game offers one randomly drawn Miami student the chance to kick a goal into an open spot on a blocked net to earn $10,000. Fans will also have a chance to catch mini Adidas soccer balls which will be thrown into the crowd after every RedHawk goal scored at the Miami Soccer Field. In addition, the RedHawk soccer team will hold a different giveaway promotion for every home game throughout the 2002 season.
Oct. 25, Wright State Girls and Sports Day (In conjunction with Miami Volleyball game at 7 p.m. Girls receive free beaded Miami soccer necklace)
Oct. 27, Marshall Fan Appreciation Day (Assorted Miami give aways)
Oct. 31, Purdue Trick or Treat with the RedHawks (Wear your Halloween costume and receive candy from the Miami and Purdue players after the game)
The Miami Soccer Team is sponsored by Moonshine Printing.
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