Miami women’s soccer battled to a stalemate against SMU on Sunday afternoon, surviving a late attacking onslaught by the Mustangs to draw 0-0 and escape with their first point in four games of conference play.
The Hurricanes were held off the scoresheet for the second consecutive match, kept in check by another stingy ACC defense as both squads earned their sixth shutout of the season.
Miami went wire-to-wire with the Mustangs in an energetic first half, applying pressure offensively and generating four shots with one on goal. The ’Canes driving attack forced SMU to get physical, stacking up seven fouls in the first 45 minutes alone. UM also limited
Southern Methodist to zero attempts from the corner flag in the opening period of play, after the home side had entered the contest ranked top 15 in the nation in corner kicks per game.
But despite promising chances from both teams, the two ACC opponents remained deadlocked going into the break.
For the remainder of the match, the Mustangs were comfortably in the saddle. SMU forwards Liz Eddy and Sammy Nieves powered a turbocharged offensive unit that constantly found ways to threaten Miami’s back line. The pair flashed blistering speed down the left and right flanks, winning the byline and setting up dangerous opportunities over the entire second half.
Their best scoring chances came inside the final quarter as Eddy struck the crossbar in the 73rd minute after a surging run down the right wing, followed by a shot from Kaya Lee inside the box a minute later that was blocked ‘Canes defender Lexi Lerwick.
The Mustang barrage reached its crescendo in the 83rd minute, when Eddy sprinted behind outside back Jessica Kaye on the right side to square a pass to Nieves, who found herself free inside the 18 for an easy tap-in to give Southern Methodist the breakthrough with less than 10 minutes left.
But Hurricanes goalkeeper Atlee Olofson had other plans.
With the game on the line, the Notre Dame transfer made a diving fingertip save, redirecting the shot headed towards the right corner off the post to keep the score level at zero.
Head coach Ken Masuhr’s defense bent but didn’t break, keeping their shape and fending off all of SMU’s 10 second-half shots. Lexi Lerwick’s vital intervention along with well-timed tackles and solid positioning throughout the match helped to preserve the clean sheet for Miami.
The Hurricanes (6-4-1, 0-3-1 ACC) will now travel to Tallahassee on Friday, Oct. 3 for the final leg of their four-game road trip for a faceoff against rival Florida State. The heavyweight clash against the No. 6 Seminoles kicks off at 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
