Women's Soccer Weekend Recap

In case you missed it, the Lady RedHawks had a very busy, very productive weekend. Their season-opening match ended in a historic victory, then they played to an exhibition draw and it was capped off by an individual accolade.

The season-opener was a 15-0 blowout victory against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs on Saturday in Oxford. (The match had been delayed a day due to transportation issues for the visiting team.) The victory set a new Miami single-game record for goals scored, nearly doubling the previous mark of eight. In Saturday's match, three players alone eclipsed that mark as junior Sarah Dessfelt and freshmen Morgan Stallard and Sam Whitmore all found the back of the net three times.

The 'Hawks were relentless on all fronts, with five others adding to the onslaught of goals: juniors Krysti Clarke (2 goals) and Courtney Clarke, sophomore Jess Kodiak, and freshmen Kayla Zakrzewski and Dani Fraelick. Shots were 37-3 in favor of the 'Hawks. Miami goaltenders Rachelle Boff and Madison Ryan each played one half, and neither were really challenged at any point; they both stopped the only shot that came their way.

The very next day the Lady 'Hawks were not nearly as prolific. The exhibition match against the North London (Ontario) Soccer Club was played in three 30-minute periods instead of the regular 45-minute halves. The Galaxy finally broke the scoreless tie in the final period, with Emilie Campbell scoring off a Miami turnover. The 'Hawks managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat though as Zakrzewski headed in a pass from Dessfelt in the 89th minute.

To finish the exhibition, the teams went to a shootout, with the Galaxy winning 4-3. Dessfelt, Kodiak and senior Julie Thompson scored for Miami.

In recognition for her play, Dessfelt was named Co-MAC Offensive Player of the Week. In addition to her hat trick, she added an assist in Saturday's match, plus another in the exhibition draw on Sunday. Her conference-leading seven points were the first of her three-year career and they all came on the same day.Dessfelt shared the weekly honor (the first of her career) with Akron's Katie Wise, who also scored a hat trick in the Zips' 3-0 win over Illinois State Friday.

The Lady 'Hawks were picked to finish atop the East Division of the MAC this year in the coaches' preseason poll. Last year they reached the MAC Championship where they fell to Central Michigan. They have just five starters and nine letterwinners returning from last year's squad though. With the roster as young as it is, you can't expect the goals to come as frequently as they have thus far in the young season, but if nothing else, this team is going to be fun to watch this year.