For more than 89 minutes, Miami women’s soccer was in a scoreless deadlock with its cross-town rival FIU on Sunday evening.
With 13 seconds left in the game, FIU’s Yasmine Decombe was shown a red card, giving the Hurricanes a free kick just outside of the penalty area — one last chance to steal victory on the road against the Panthers.
Junior midfielder Ciara Alarcon whipped the ball into the box, finding the head of Madelynn Sadusky, who pushed it past FIU’s Valery Restrepo and into the net to seal the win for the Canes with six seconds remaining.
Coming into the game with a record of 4-1-1, the Canes were favored over the 1-2-3 Panthers, but the match turned into a hard-fought affair that seemed destined for a draw.
While the score was tied until the final seconds, Miami dominated offensively, peppering the Panthers with 23 shots to FIU’s 11. The Canes also earned 11 corners to the Panthers’ three.
Despite their offensive advantage, Miami was unable to control possession throughout the game, as FIU bested UM with 54% possession total. However, 50% of the Panthers’ possession came in the middle third, whereas half of the Hurricane’s was in the attacking third.
FIU spent the majority of the game attempting to control the ball, playing solid defense, and holding out until the Hurricanes would make a mistake and attack on the counter.
Those opportunities came far and few between for the Panthers, as FIU totaled just three shots on goal compared to the Hurricanes’ 10.
In the first half, Kambryl Armstrong created two chances on her own to put the Canes up early. In both chances, Restrepo turned the junior forward away — a story for most of the match.
Despite the loss, Restrepo was dominant for the Panthers, making nine of a possible 10 saves against the high-powered Miami attack.
That trend continued for most of the second half, as the FIU goalkeeper made four saves in 18 minutes, putting the Panthers on her back.
Miami, however, stayed unrelenting on offense, pushing until the final whistle and finally breaking through with Sadusky’s game-winning goal.
With the win against its cross-town rivals, Miami improves to 5-1-1 and is now unbeaten in six straight matches. Following the opening-season loss to Jacksonville, the Hurricanes are playing some of their best soccer just before ACC play begins.
The Hurricanes will be back at home Friday, Sept. 11 to host the SMU Mustangs for their first ACC match of the season. Kickoff at Cobb Stadium will begin at 7:00 p.m.