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Miami Insider: Offensive surge leads to postseason play for Miami soccer

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11:11 AM Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Miami University women’s soccer coach Bobby Kramig told his players to relax. It seemed to do the trick.

The RedHawks emerged from a trying time in which they went 2-4-2 in eight matches by erupting for four goals in a span of eight minutes to beat Bowling Green, 5-2, and clinch a somewhat-delayed Mid-American Conference East Division championship.

Three days later, last Sunday, the RedHawks beat Akron, 2-0, in the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament. On Friday, the team will try to earn a berth in the title game when they take on the two-time defending champion, Central Michigan, in the semifinals at Toledo.

“As we got closer and closer (to winning the MAC East title), we locked up a little bit,” said Kramig, whose team stands 13-6-2 overall. “We told the kids ‘You’ve got to stop playing not to lose and start playing to win.’

“It’s not only a mental thing for us, but also tactical because we’re a much better team when we’re attacking,” he said. “That plays to our strength. Once we got that baggage off of us, the kids relaxed and we’re playing a lot better.”

It’s a good thing. Kramig called Central Michigan the best team in the MAC and the RedHawks lost to the Chippewas, 2-0, in Oxford earlier this season.

“I always look at the MAC Tournament as an opportunity for redemption more than anything else. Certainly that was the case against Akron,” Kramig said, pointing out that Miami also lost to the Zips during the regular season, 2-1, in overtime.

Kramig said the RedHawks have to stay in their attacking mode against Central.

“We have to go right at them,” he said. “Central’s one of those teams with no obvious weaknesses. They’re good both ways (attacking and defending) and they have a lot of tools. In my book, they are the best team in the league, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be beaten.”

The Miami-Central Michigan winner will play the Toledo-Western Michigan victor for the championship on Sunday at Toledo at a time to be announced.

Also off to semifinals

Miami’s field hockey team, like the soccer squad, is preparing for a semifinal contest in the MAC Tournament.

The RedHawks won a share of the MAC title and have won four in a row. They will play at 1:30 p.m. Friday in Mount Pleasant, Mich., against the winner of Thursday’s first-round match between Ohio and Ball State.

The championship game is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday.

Miami (13-6 overall, 8-2 MAC) is led by senior forward Mary Hull, who ranks second in the league in points and has become only the fourth player in program history to reach 100 points in her career.

The tournament winner will advance to an NCAA Tournament play-in game against the Patriot League champion on Nov. 9.

Jill Reeve is in her seventh year as head coach and has guided the RedHawks to three straight winning seasons. She is only the second head coach in program history; Lil Fesperman coached the team for its first 27 years.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2197 or pconrad@coxohio.com.

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