CORAL GABLES, Florida (Aug. 19, 2018) – Sophomore Ashley Adams scored FIU's first goal of the season, but the Panthers were bested on the road as Miami earned a 4-1 win on Sunday night.
 
Sunday's game was delayed after inclement weather forced both teams into the locker room, with the contest finally getting underway at 7:20.
 
"You never really know how a young team will handle that," head coach Sharolta Nonen said about the delay. "It did hurt us just a little bit on the mental side, because I think they had just a little too much time to think."
 
UM struck early with three goals in the opening half, following scores from Gudrun Haralz (7'), Lexi Castellano (30') and Rachel Sorkenn (44'). The Hurricanes pushed their lead to 4-0 following a strike from Mallory Olsson (60'), before the Panthers got on the board following a breakaway that resulted with an Adams' (66') shot at the back of the net for the FIU's first goal of the season.
 
"I really think we turned it around in the second half," Nonen said of her team's improvement in the final 45 minutes. "The way we performed in the second half said a lot about our desire as a team to play harder, persevere and hopefully improve. I think today we saw some really big improvements as a team and also some really great individual efforts."
 
Despite facing 30 shots on the night, freshman keeper Christina Velaquez earned a career-high seven saves on Sunday.
 
"She was exceptional today," Nonen said of her freshman goalie. "She had a lot of saves to make, because Miami was very dangerous in the box. Christina was very brave to come out and punch some of those balls away. She looked very cool, calm and collected, which is not what you would expect as a freshman."
 
UP NEXT
The Panthers will return home as FIU hosts Denver on Sunday, Aug. 26 at 12 p.m. from the friendly confines of the FIU Soccer Stadium.
 
NOTABLE

• Miami now leads the all-time series against FIU, 8-4-1.
• A total of 16 players logged minutes on Sunday night.
• The Panthers had five different players record a shot.
• Sophomore Ashley Adams earned her second career goal after scoring on Sunday against UM.
• Adams led FIU in shots after tallying two for the game.
• Rayquel Berry and Torrie Taylor received their first collegiate starts.
• Freshman Christina Velazquez recorded a career-high seven saves.

 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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