Miami lost its seventh straight ACC fixture of the season, falling 3-1 to No.2 Stanford at Cobb Stadium Sunday afternoon.
Stanford came into the fixture in fantastic form, having won all six of its last matches in dominant fashion. The Cardinal have demolished the weaker opponents it has faced in the ACC, having beat Pitt 6-0, Syracuse 4-0, and Virginia Tech 5-0.
Nevertheless, the Hurricanes held their own throughout their first half, pushing Stanford’s attacking moves out wide, and forcing uncomfortable shots.
Miami’s Ciara Alarcon and Crosby Nicholson were comfortable in controlling the ball in the midfield while Moira Flynn was impressive with her hold-up play in the right striker slot. Flynn was able to produce several chances down the right side through her strength and close control, which also helped bring Teegan Melenhorst into the game.
The second half saw Stanford attack with more urgency, pushing Miami’s formation more narrow, allowing the Cardinal to play more crosses and more chances around the goal. The relentless pressure resulted in an unfortunate handball from Miami’s Lexi Lerwick, leading to a 61st minute penalty which Andrea Kitahita converted composedly to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead.
Stanford’s lead was swiftly doubled as Shae Harvey found joy at the back-post only two minutes later.
Yet, Miami demonstrated true grit in the 66th minute as center forward Brie Severns pressed the Stanford defense and pushed forward with the ball, allowing her to find space and place a very clinical finish into the bottom left corner of Stanford’s net to inch closer at 2-1.
Severns’s goal not only kept Miami in the game, but extended her goal tally to four this season, keeping her place as the Hurricanes’ top-scorer.
The Cardinal found its stride once again in the 79th minute as a cross by Charlotte Kohler found the feet of Kitahata, letting the U-20 US national find her second goal of the game, extending Stanford’s lead to 3-1.
Miami never lost its aggression, as UM continuously fought to win loose balls in the middle of the park. The Hurricanes hard-work paid off in the last minutes of the game, as a cross from Sarah Greiner took two deflections from the Stanford defense and found the back of the net, closing the gap to 3-2.
Still, Stanford’s initial two-goal lead was simply too high of a margin to climb, and the final whistle closed out the game with Stanford achieving their seventh win of the ACC season, and Miami taking home the same number in losses.
The Hurricanes will look to build on the positives of this game as they prepare to face UNC at home on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m.