SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Giovana Canali opened the scoring with her ninth goal of the season, Gisselle Kozarski and Hallie Salas each recorded their first goal of the year, and the University of Miami soccer team earned a dominant 3-1 road victory over Syracuse Thursday evening.
The Hurricanes jumped on Syracuse from the start. 10 minutes into the match, Canali beat a defender to a loose ball and gained possession in the final third. She proceeded to make a move right by a Syracuse defender, before ripping a perfectly placed shot in the bottom left corner of the net, giving Miami a 1-0 lead early.
Miami maintained the 1-0 advantage heading into halftime, as Syracuse was unable to generate any quality chances and pressure the Canes.
Miami continued to put pressure on the Orange in the second half; however, Syracuse managed to score on a counterattack in the 66th minute to even the match at 1-1.
With momentum seeming to shift in favor of the home team, the Canes displayed exceptional poise, and continued to press their attack, refusing to settle for a draw.
In the 76th minute, Adrianna Serna put a dangerous cross in the box that was deflected and went in the direction of Kozarski. Kozarski took one touch, settled the ball, and ripped a shot that soared past the goalkeeper and into the net, as Miami retook the lead.
Three minutes later, the Canes earned a corner kick, as they continued to control the match. Miami played a short ball that was crossed in, deflected, and went right to Salas. Salas took a one touch shot that was placed beautifully into the upper third of the net, marking the first goal of her career.
Miami went on to earn the 3-1 victory over Syracuse.
The Canes recorded 14 shots, eight of which were on target, while Syracuse compiled 10 shots, two of which were on frame.
Miami will return to the field on Sunday when they are set to face Boston College at 12:30 p.m.
