Non-Revenue Sports Recap: Women’s Soccer

The women’s soccer program at Miami has historically been a competitive program, despite playing in one of the toughest conferences in the country with perennial powerhouses North Carolina, Duke, and Notre Dame. The team was led by coach Mary-Frances Monroe, who had guided the Lady Canes to 2 above .500 seasons in her first 4 years, and 3 victories over teams ranked in the top-5 nationally. The 2017 season would not live up to that standard however, as Miami finished 5-11, including 1-9 in ACC play, and Coach Monroe was let go at the end of the season.

On February 27th, Miami announced that Sarah Barnes would be the new head coach of the soccer program. Coach Barnes spent her last six seasons as the head coach at George Washington University, where she compiled a 60-41-14 mark and was named the 2015 Atlantic 10 Conference Coach of the Year. Since then, Coach Barnes has spent the offseason filling her staff and establishing the culture of the program:

2017 had its positive moments as well, as senior forward Ronnie Johnson led the team in goals and points, finishing the season with 4 goals and 3 assists. Sophomore midfielder Kristina Fisher led the team in assists with 5 on the season, and redshirt junior goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce ranked second in the ACC in saves per game with 5.25. The team performance of the season came on October 19th against conference foe Pitt:

With a new coaching staff, plenty of returning talent and a solid recruiting class already secured, the Lady Canes will be motivated to rebound in 2018 with a higher finish in the ACC and possibly an NCAA tournament berth.

Be sure to check back each week for more recaps on the non-revenue sports at the U.