In the face of rain delays, a power outage, and a hungry opponent equally struggling, Miami Women’s soccer earned their first victory of the Ken Masuhr era with a 2-1 victory over the Missouri Tigers Thursday night at Cobb Stadium. As the announcer and crowd counted down the clock it signified the first win for women’s soccer since September of last year, their first win in 10 games going back to last year.
“I am so thrilled for this group,” said Masuhr. “We have consistently put in work every day and we knew at some point that the ball would bounce our way. Credit to our seniors and fifth-years who have continued to push and hold our standard. I could not be happier that this happened at home in front of a great crowd.”
The game did not come easy for the Hurricanes. They came out a little slow, struggling to move the ball consistently into scoring position.This resulted in some early offense for the Tigers who took four of the first five shots of the match. A combination of good defense and solid goalkeeping from redshirt freshman Claireese Foley kept Miami around so they could build some momentum to go on the offensive.
The Canes’ now out of their own half of the field were able to apply some pressure on the Tigers defense. Though it didn’t result in anything immediately they kept on knocking at the door, and then eventually someone answered.
After the University of Florida transfer Tori Grambo received the ball just inside the midfield line she fired a pass down to freshman Giovana Canali. Surrounded by three defenders, Canali proceeded to weave her way in and out of the defense generating just enough space to strike the ball across her body and into the bottom right corner of the goal. The freshman then proceeded to pay homage to Marcus Rashford with a simple yet powerful point to her head as she celebrated the second goal of her collegiate career, a roaring crowd erupting in front of her.
Though a high point of the season, the game did not end there for Miami. Persistence and fight kept Miami in position to capitalize on whenever Missouri slipped up. Then eventually a penalty kick landed perfectly in front of the goal and because of the contest by Jordan Womack it forced Missouri into scoring on themselves putting the Canes’ up by two goals.
From there to Miami it was just about keeping away. Trying to hold onto the lead they moved the ball around not really too hard to make an offensive push, but just trying to drain out the clock. Then while things were going smooth the lights of Cobb Stadium completely shut off forcing a long stoppage and halting Miami’s momentum. The forced break seemed to give the Tigers the boost they needed and they began to go on the offensive.
Miami stuck in second gear didn’t match that energy letting Missouri gain momentum. Then just like that a corner kick set up a header for the Tigers and Foley couldn’t corral it in time, as Tigers midfielder Landis Canada snuck right in front of the goal to tap it in, making the score 2-1 in favor of the ‘Canes.
The goal really put Miami back into the right mindset as from there they shut everything down. Only one more shot allowed through the last 22 minutes.
It was a win that the players not only took for themselves but for their new coach. Canali immediately ran to her coach following the game to give him a hug and the players could be heard from across the field cheering louder than the crowd as they celebrated Coach Mahsuhr first victory as head coach.
There is still a long season ahead and this team still has a long way to go but, at least for the moment, a high point for a struggling team and potentially the beginning of something positive for the future.
Miami will be back at Cobb Stadium hoping to carry on this momentum Sunday at 7:00pm when the FIU Panthers come to town.