Box Score

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Two Evansville goals in the first 18 minutes dug the Miami soccer team into a hole it could not climb out of in a 2-1 road loss on Sunday.

Miami (2-2) falls to .500 on the season after losing its second consecutive match, the first time its dropped two straight since a five-match losing skid in 2013.

"We are a good team struggling with some issues right now," head coach Bobby Kramig said. "We'll work through it and I have no doubt we'll emerge in good shape. There's nothing here that can't be fixed and I am fully confident in our team's ability to rise to the challenge and turn things around."

The Purple Aces (1-3) nearly struck early on as Molly Lear fired a shot that rang off the post in the seventh minute, leading to a corner kick that was successfully fended off by the Red and White. Miami's first shot came off a corner kick in the 10th minute as the ball reached Haley Walter, but her attempt missed.

Evansville poured on more pressure following that Miami set piece and capitalized in the 13th minute when Sara Osinski cashed in on a rebound from Bronwyn Boswell's shot that rang off the crossbar. The RedHawks countered by creating another corner kick, where Jess Bronke's cross caught the head of Katie Mazurek, but Simone Busby was there to make the save.

A corner kick led to another UE tally when Lear's cross got to Olivia Shafer, who headed one in to make it 2-0 with 27 minutes left in the opening frame.

With Evansville owning a two-goal lead and a 7-2 shot advantage, Miami finally began creating offense at the other end. MU fired three consecutive shots, but Busby stopped both of the attempts that were on goal to keep the cushion intact going into halftime. Evansville held an 11-6 shot advantage in the opening 45 minutes of play while both teams attempted three corner kicks.

Play slowed down in the second half as UE defended with a two-goal lead. The Purple Aces held a 3-1 shot advantage in the first 20 minutes of the half, bogging down the RedHawks' offense. MU broke through in the 69th minute when Korrie Sauder finished a crossing feed from Stephanie Dillon to cut the deficit to 2-1 with 21:33 to go.

While that goal drew Miami closer and invigorated its attack, that was all it would get offensively in the second half. The Purple Aces stood their ground to hold off the Red and White's comeback bid.

Evansville finished the contest with a 17-11 advantage in shot attempts and took five corner kicks to Miami's three. Busby turned away seven of the eight shots she saw from MU while Vic Maniaci stopped four of six shots at the other end.

Miami returns to action on Friday night when it heads to Wright State for a 7 p.m. kickoff.