CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The University of Miami soccer team recorded its third win in a row Sunday afternoon at Cobb Stadium, downing North Florida 5-1.

Sophomore midfielder/forward Grace Rapp tallied a pair of goals for the Hurricanes, who scored five-plus goals in a match for the first time since beating Cleveland State 6-1 Sept. 6, 2013.

“I said before the game that what we struggled with in the past is having intensity from the first few minutes,” Miami head coach Mary-Frances Monroesaid. “So that was our goal, to just come out and fight, be intense, to have energy and high pressure. That’s what they did. I think that helped us create a lot of scoring opportunities.”

Senior forward Amy Schmidt opened the scoring in the 16th minute with her fourth goal of the season. She buried a penalty kick that was awarded to Miami (3-4-0) after freshman midfielder Ainsly Wolfinbarger was tripped in the box.

Under a minute later, Schmidt was on the assisting end of what proved to be the match-winning goal. The Lenexa, Kan. native found Gracie Lachowecki in the box and the junior forward beat North Florida (1-6-0) junior goalkeeper Victoria Ekeli for her third goal of the year, making it 2-0 Hurricanes.

Miami was not yet done before the intermission though, as for the second-straight home match the Hurricanes tallied three goals in a half. In the 30th minute, Rapp made a sensational run down the right side of the field, dribbled through the Ospreys defense and put it home for her first goal of the season.

“We asked [Grace] to commit herself to defend first and then look forward and be creative on to the attack,” Monroe said. “We’ve just been working on her being an overall player, defending and going forward. She’s very creative on the ball. When she has an opportunity, I would like her to shoot more, but she is very creative on the ball. She puts herself in good spots.”

The Hurricanes were far from done scoring, despite the three-goal lead at halftime. Senior forward Jasmine Paterson tallied her first goal of the 2015 campaign in the 67th minute when she finished off a cross from Wolfinbarger to make it 4-0. For Wolfinbarger, it marked her fourth match in a row with an assist.

Under one minute after going up by four, the Hurricanes conceded goal for the first time in greater than 275 minutes. North Florida senior midfielder Lanie Keating scored on a penalty kick to get the Ospreys on the board.

Not long after, Miami got that goal right back. Rapp, who had two goals in the Hurricanes’ exhibition win over North Florida last year, scored her second goal of the day when she tapped in a rebound in the 71st minute off a shot by Paterson. That would conclude the scoring for the day, as Miami earned a 5-1 victory.

The victory gives Miami its first three-match winning streak since Sept. 1-8, 2013, a stretch that included the aforementioned win over Cleveland State. The win over the Vikings was also the last time four different Hurricanes scored in a match and Lachowecki was among the quartet that day too. Additionally, sophomore midfielder Danielle Savage made her Miami debut Sunday.

“Everyone that got in the game did something for us. We had six freshmen play [as well as] a lot of players who haven’t had a lot of playing time from last year,” Monroe said. “I think it was a great game for us to get our entire roster in. Everybody played except for players who were hurt and all the goalkeepers. I was very excited about that, but I give the starters credit because if they didn’t put the ball away and score some goals, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.”

Miami had a 25-4 edge over North Florida in shots, led 7-1 in corner kicks and had a 12-1 advantage in shots on goal, with the Ospreys' lone tally in that department coming on a penalty kick. 

The Hurricanes will be back on the field Friday, Sept. 18 when they open ACC play at Wake Forest (3-2-2) at 7:00 p.m. in Winston Salem, N.C. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

To learn more about the University of Miami soccer team, follow @CanesFutbol.

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