Oct. 18, 2002
Final Stats
The Miami soccer team clinched the Mid-American Conference regular season title and top seed in the conference tournament after beating Northern Illinois 3-1 on Friday afternoon in DeKalb, Ill. thanks to the two goals and an assist by senior forward Andrea Cunningham (Cincinnati, OH/McAuley).
This is the first time that the women's soccer team has won the conference regular season crown and earned the top seed in the tournament in their six-year history. The win brings Miami's overall ledger to 12-2-1 and a Miami record 9-1-0 in the MAC.
The RedHawks got on the board first when redshirt junior Danielle Altiero (Upper Arlington, OH/Upper Arlington) intercepted a clearing pass to start a two-on-one counterattack in the Huskie zone. Altiero found Cunningham running down the right side and fed the senior forward for an eight-yard shot only 12:13 into the game.
After taking a 1-0 advantage into halftime, Cunningham struck again. The senior captain's game-winner came when her ten-yard shot slipped off of Husky goalkeeper Leigh Steigerwald's hands into the net while the clock read 62:37.
Northern Illinois freshman Chanelle Crosby scored the only Husky goal in the 81st minute when she lofted a 25-yard shot past Miami freshman goalkeeper Leigh Terry (Grand Haven, MI/Grand Haven) into the far corner of the net.
Crosby's goal was the first goal that Terry had allowed in 349 minutes. Terry's streak of 349 scoreless minutes is the second longest in Miami history, second to the 554 minutes of scoreless play set earlier this year.
Senior forward Danielle Berkemeier (Fairfield, OH/Fairfield) put the match out of reach by converting Cunningham's pass for her tenth goal of the season with only 16 seconds remaining in the contest.
The RedHawks outshot the Huskies 24-16. Terry made two saves, which both came in the second half, while Northern Illinois goalkeepers Leigh Steigerwald made six saves and Carrie Dvorak made two.
Northern Illinois drops to 5-9-0 and 3-6-0 in the MAC.
The MAC regular season champs will host the MAC Tournament first-round game on Nov. 5 at Miami Soccer Field.
The RedHawks end their four-game road trip on Sunday at noon in Western Michigan.
