Miami Soccer Drops Home Opener to USF, 3-2

9/14/07

Coral Gables, Fla. – The University of Miami women’s soccer team dropped its home opener for the first time in three years, falling to South Florida, 3-2, on a balmy Friday evening at Cobb Stadium.



It was the second-straight loss for the Hurricanes (2-2-1) and the first win of the 2007 campaign for the Bulls (1-2-1) – and marked USF’s first win on the pitch over Miami in five tries.



The Hurricanes came out firing in the first half in an aggressive battle between the in-state rivals. Miami’s leading scorer Brittney Steinbruch (Wyckoff, N.J.) fired off a strong shot just two minutes in, but USF goalkeeper Mallori Lofton-Malachi managed to pull in the save. It was Lofton-Malachi’s first of five saves in the opening half.



However, a relentless Steinbruch – who tallied a game-high seven shots on the evening, including four on goal – found her target in the 41st minute, with freshman Lauren Singer (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.) on the assist. As Lofton-Malachi dove out of the goal, Steinbruch worked the ball around the downed keeper into the open net for the 1-0 lead.



Lofton-Malachi was replaced by freshman Melissa Barber and the Bulls immediately responded with the equalizer. Junior Lindsay Brauer crossed the ball to senior Autumn Browning, who headed the ball over UM senior goalkeeper Lauren McAdam (Simsbury, Conn.) for USF’s first goal of 2007.



The teams took the tie into the break, and Lofton-Malachi returned to the goal for the Bulls in the beginning of the second half. In a game that saw eight yellow cards issued, USF’s Melanie Sutherland notched her second yellow card of the game just 31 seconds into the second half, forcing the Bulls to play a man down for the remainder of the contest.



The Hurricanes continued to pressure the Bulls offensively, building the 15-7 advantage in shots over the game, however it was USF who used a late rally to take the lead.



Browning capitalized on a free kick in the 83rd minute to push USF ahead 2-1, and the Bulls scored again just five minutes later on a Lindsay Brauer shot that went off the hands of McAdam, extending their lead to 3-2 with just two and half minutes remaining.



About a minute later, Miami seemed to close its deficit to just one, but the apparent goal was waved off by officials. The Hurricanes managed to get their second goal on the board with just 16 seconds remaining in the match on senior Lindsay Curtin’s (Fairfax, Va.) second career goal, for the final 3-2 score.



“It’s definitely disappointing to come out and lose your home opener,” said Miami head coach Tricia Taliaferro. “We were inconsistent in the second half, and USF took advantage of that and managed to break through and score some goals.”



Lofton-Malachi tallied seven saves in the game for the Bulls, while McAdam finished with a pair for the ‘Canes.



Miami returns to action at home at Cobb Stadium on Sunday versus Binghamton (0-4-1) at 1 p.m.