Miami University
Toledo
Cardiac RedHawks Top Rockets with Another Late Goal
10/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
OXFORD, Ohio - A new hero emerged for the Miami soccer team as it scored yet another late goal to top Toledo, 2-1, on Friday afternoon.
Bianca Medancic netted her first-collegiate goal in the 85th minute to send the RedHawks (8-5-1, 5-1-1 Mid-American) to their fourth-straight victory.
"This team is just remarkable in their ability to hang in there and get that goal when we need it down the stretch and we did that today and I couldn't be more proud of them," head coach Bobby Kramig said.
The RedHawks established their attack in the early going with Jenna Weiner getting a shot on goal from the middle on a weird bounce that Katie Wilson got ahold of to stop. After Patricia Koutoulas got into the match with a save at the other end, Miami started going on the attack regularly. Miami got possession in the attacking third for a corner kick in the ninth minute and kept on the attack after a sequence of UT (6-8-1, 1-5-1 MAC) fouls. In the 12th minute, Jenny Barr played a ball into the box, where it took a bounce off Kat Zalar to the left foot of Stephanie Dillon, who chipped the ball past Wilson for her first goal of the season.
Miami had a couple other chances to add to its lead. Olivia Winnett got a grade-A chance in the 13th minute when the ball was worked to her in the middle of the box, but she didn't get all of the shot as it went right to Wilson. Jenn Rowe challenged Wilson with a 21-yarder in the 34th minute on a shot that was going toward the far post, but Wilson again secured the shot. Both teams attempted six shots in the opening 45 minutes of play, but Dillon's goal was the only one on the board as Miami took a 1-0 lead into halftime.
Shae van Gassen nearly made it a 2-0 contest less than two minutes into the second half as she got played in on the right side, where she had a partial break, but Wilson made a stop and forced a follow up attempt wide.
Rejuvenated from the save, the Rockets began getting their counter attack working, causing problems for the RedHawks. UT kept targeting top scorer Kiersten Johnson and eventually it paid off. In the 52nd minute, Johnson beat Koutoulas to a loose ball just inside the box and walked around her to score on an empty net to even the score at 1-1.
After withstanding a few more minutes of a UT surge, MU began to regain its composure down the stretch. The RedHawks created a good opportunity off a good free kick play in by Barr in the 70th minute where Wilson dropped the ball, but a foul was whistled on the Red and White to stifle that scoring chance.
The contest was creeping closer to yet another Miami overtime special, until there was just under six minutes to play. Zalar gathered the ball with a lot of green in front of her through midfield down the left side. Eventually Zalar threaded a pass through a gap in the defense that appeared ticketed for the end line and a UT goal kick. Olivia Winnett had no intention of letting that happen as the freshman raced to gather the ball right at the line, where she crossed the ball back into the box. Rachel Marble redirected the ball towards the middle atop the keeper box and Medancic got her right foot on the shot to put the RedHawks back on top at 2-1 with 5:53 to play.
"Bianca is a great competitor and brings us a bundle of energy," Kramig said. "When you put her out there, she fights tooth and nail for everything she gets. She has changed the game for us for the better every game she has played."
Miami grinded down the clock on numerous occasions with its lead restored, taking the ball into the corner of its attacking third to make things difficult for Toledo. The Rocket got one more opportunity in the final minute as a ball in the air worked to the top of the box to Brooke Maletic, but a wall of Miami defenders redirected her last second shot to secure the win.
Both teams fired 11 shots, with Miami putting eight on goal and Toledo getting five on target. Koutoulas stopped four of five shots to pick up her second victory of the season while Wilson turned aside six of the eight shots she faced.
The RedHawks conclude their home schedule on Sunday when they host Bowling Green. First kick is at 1 p.m.
