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OXFORD, Ohio -- An early penalty kick dug the Miami soccer team into a deficit it could not climb out of in a 2-0 loss to Evansville on Sunday afternoon.

The setback drops the RedHawks to 0-2 on opening weekend while the Purple Aces even their record at 1-1.

For the second-straight contest, Miami was called for a foul inside its 18-yard box early on with this infraction occurring in the ninth minute of play. Bronwyn Boswell stepped up for the Purple Aces and buried the attempt to make it a 1-0 contest. The Purple Aces added a second goal from Boswell in the 25th minute of play when Montana Portenier was played behind the defense on the left side, but was stopped by Maniaci. Boswell then tapped in the rebound into the open net.

After making a few promising runs to start the contest, the Red and White had a tough time getting offense going the remainder of the half. MU's best opportunity came about midway through the frame when a foul just in front of the box created a short free kick, but the shot attempt sailed over the net. The Purple Aces maintained their two-goal advantage heading into the break with a 7-5 advantage in shot attempts.

The RedHawks picked things up in the second half, launching 10 of their 15 shots in the final 45 minutes of play. Several of those chances were from long range though as the Purple Aces maintained their two-goal bulge into the late stages of the half. MU then turned up the pressure even more, generating some dangerous scoring opportunities late. Ashley Weathers had a long range attempt in the 68th minute that Whitney Biggs punched out of play, Chloe Knue made a quick move inside the box and blasted a shot that got by Biggs, but went off the crossbar and Kat Zalar got clean possession inside the box for a shot that Biggs stopped. The latter two shots came in the 86th minute to no avail.

Miami outshot Evansville 15-14 overall, but only placed five attempts on goal while UE had 11 shots go on target. Vic Maniaci made nine saves on 11 shots, including several stops on dangerous Evansville opportunities to keep the deficit manageable. Biggs stopped all five shots she faced to earn the shutout.

The RedHawks are 0-2 for the first time since the 2005 season and they wrap up their season-opening three-match home stand on Friday when they host Western Kentucky. First touch is at 4 p.m.