BLACKSBURG, Va. – No. 3 Florida State (14-0-3, 9-0-2 ACC) ran its unbeaten streak to 17-games courtesy of Dagny Brynjarsdottir’s second career multi-goal game as the Seminoles went on the road and defeated No. 4 Virginia Tech (13-2-2, 8-2-1 ACC) 2-1 Thursday night on Thompson Field.
The junior midfielder broke a 1-1 tie in the 87th minute putting away a beautiful cross from Carson Pickett for her team leading ninth goal of the season and fifth game-winner.
“The winning goal was quite nice,” Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian said. “We know that Carson has the ability to serve good balls and Dagny is quite imposing in and around the box. She is getting better and better and I thought the sequence that led to the goal was quite nice.”
Florida State improved to 5-0-1 against ranked foes in 2013 as three of those wins have come against top five opponents. The Seminoles also remained unbeaten all-time against the Hokies improving to 12-0-1 all-time and 5-0-0 in Blacksburg.
Despite being outshot 7-2 in the second half, Florida State made its second shot count as Pickett sent a high arching cross from the left side of the field to the far post where Brynjarsdottir headed home the ball inside the left post for her second goal of the evening.
The score marked the 11th time this year that Florida State has registered a goal after the 80th minute including the eighth time in which a goal has given the Noles the lead for good or tied up a match.
“We walk away feeling good that we came into Blacksburg leaving with three points,” added Krikorian. “Quite frankly the better team did not win tonight. Virginia Tech was better than we were for a vast majority of the game. But credit to our kids for hanging in there, being resilient and continuing to compete and finding a way to win. Through the course of play today we weren’t as good as we needed to be.”
Florida State went on top early when the Icelandic native found the back of the net in the 16th minute of play to give the Seminoles a 1-0 advantage. Isabella Schmid began the scoring play sending a cross into the six-yard box where both Berglind Thorvaldsdottir and a Hokie defender fought for possession of the ball. Brynjarsdottir ran in on the loose ball at the top of the 18-yard box drilling the ball inside the left post under a diving Dayle Colpitts for the score.
Virginia Tech registered five shots in the first half to just three for Florida State with two of the Hokie shots going on goal. Kelsey Wys was up for the challenge on both shots including a great save on an Ashley Meier shot from about seven yards out that she tipped over the cross bar and out of play.
The Hokies dominated possession in the second half keeping the Seminole defense on their heels. Virginia Tech was rewarded for its pressure in the 72nd minute when Shannon Mayrose intercepted a pass inside the Hokies’ attacking third. She sent the ball over to Meier, who blasted a shot inside the left post from just inside the 18-yard box for her eighth goal of the season.
Florida State’s first shot of the second half didn’t come until the 77th minute when Kirsten Crowley sent a cross from the right side back toward the top of the 18-yard box. Brynjarsdottir ran back toward the ball and sent a shot wide of the left post.
Virginia Tech finished the match out shooting Florida State 12-5 and maintaining a 9-0 advantage in corner kicks. The five shots were a season-low for the Seminoles, while it marked the first time this year FSU did not register a corner.
“Spacing was a little bit of an issue,” said Krikorian. “Virginia Tech’s movement off the ball and their ability to connect passes tonight was better than what we were able to do. We just weren’t good enough with the ball and we didn’t link the passes together as we should making the game a lot harder for ourselves.”
Brynjarsdottir recorded all five of FSU’s shots on the night with four going on goal. She now has a team-high nine goals on the year matching her career-high set last year.
Florida State remains on the road and will face No. 1 Virginia on Sunday, October 27 at 1:00 p.m. in Charlottesville. The match will be streamed live over the internet. Live stats will be available via gametracker. As always Seminole fans can follow the Noles on twitter @FSU_Soccer and remember to like the Seminoles on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FSUSoccer) and Instagram (NoleSoccer).
