Oct. 27, 2002
Final Stats
A spirited crowd of 527 saw the Miami RedHawks become the first Mid-American Conference team in league history to earn their 11th win after the Red and White outlasted Marshall for a 2-1 victory.
The Sunday afternoon match had many subplots as the Thundering Herd were battling to stay alive in hopes of qualifying for the MAC tournament, while the outstanding Miami senior class was playing in their final MAC regular season game before entering the tournament as the top seed.
Although it was the senior's day to shine, sophomore Ashley Swinehart (Worthington, OH/Worthington) scored the first goal for the RedHawks. Swinehart rocketed a shot into the upper near-post from five yards out off a pass from senior Andrea Cunningham (Cincinnati, OH/ McAuley) to put Miami up 1-0 while the clock read 10:52.
Miami took a 1-0 lead into halftime, but the Thundering Herd did not fold as they strived for their fourth MAC win. Less than five minutes into the second half, Jorie Grundstrom found the net in traffic off an assist from Ellerie Karl to knot the score at 1-1.
In the 58th minute senior Danielle Berkemeier (Fairfield, OH/Fairfield) struck a loose ball inside the box into the upper far-post beyond the reach of goalkeeper Sarah Barber. The game-winner was the team-leading 14th goal for Berkemeier.
RedHawk freshman goalkeeper Leigh Terry (Grand Haven, OH/Grand Haven) saved seven Thundering Herd shots. Barber stopped six shots for Marshall.
Miami finished the MAC season with an 11-1-0 mark and have a 15-2-1 record with only one regular season game to play. Marshall dropped their record to 3-6-2 in the MAC and 6-8-2 overall.
The RedHawks welcome the nationally ranked Purdue University Boilermakers to Oxford on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. for the final regular season game of the 2002 season.