BLACKSBURG, Va. – The No. 5 Florida State soccer team (11-2-0) improved to 5-0 in the ACC with their fourth ranked win, this time over No. 20 Virginia Tech (9-3-1) in Blacksburg in a double-overtime affair, 3-2.
“It is exactly what we expected from Virginia Tech,” said head coach Mark Krikorian. “They are very organized and very hard working. They have a lot of good players and we feel very good to come on the road and come away with three points here in Blacksburg. It is not easy coming here and winning, that is for sure.”
The Noles surrendered the first goal for the fifth time this season but that did not matter as they would go on to win 3-2 in overtime on their way to their 11th win of 2019. Deyna Castellanos put the Noles on the board first with her eighth goal of the season and the 44th of her career. Makala Thomas gave the Noles their first lead of the game in the 57th minute on her second goal of the season but Leilanni Nesbeth sealed the deal for the Noles in the 106th minute on her first career goal.
Florida State got two early corners in the 5th minute but could not get anything out of them. Virginia Tech came back down the field to score their first goal of the game in the 10th minute on an unassisted goal from Molly Feighan.
The Garnet and Gold bounced back getting several good looks on goal but did not convert until the 18th minute. Castellanos recorded the 44th goal of her career to move into a tie for second all-time at FSU. The goal came off of a cross from Yujie Zhao that was then headed by Thomas to Castellanos.
FSU got several other looks but went into the half tied 1-1 with an advantage in shots and corner kicks.
Florida State was not messing around in the second half, coming out with two early shots by Malia Berkely and Castellanos. In the 57th minute, the Noles broke the tie with Thomas’s second goal of the season. It came off of a Kristen McFarland drive from the right side and a pass across the box.
Virginia Tech would tie the game back up with a goal in the 78th minute from Allyson Brown on a cross from Grace Sklopon. Neither team would be able to break the tie as the game would head to overtime.
The Noles dominated possession in the first overtime but only got off one shot. In the second overtime, FSU took three shots, with the last one being the winner. It came in the 106th minute from Leilanni Nesbeth, the first of her career.
Florida State is back home on Sunday to take on No. 1 Virginia at 1:00 pm live on the ACC Network.
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Notes:
- Deyna Castellanos is currently in a tie for second at Florida State with 44 career goals.
- With three assists against Boston College in the ACC Opener, Castellanos tied a school record. She currently ranks fourth in the country with seven assists.
- Caroline Jeffers is in a tie for eighth at Florida State with nine career shutouts.
- Brooke Bollinger is tied for sixth at FSU with 12 career shutouts.
- Florida State is 116-53-21 all-time in the month of October, 72-20-13 under head coach Mark Krikorian.
- The Seminoles have had three student-athletes record multi-goal games this season. There have been four games with an athlete to score multiple goals (Jenna Nighswonger vs. Colorado; Jaelin Howell vs. Samford; Yujie Zhao vs. Villanova, Nighswonger vs. Boston College).
- Castellanos is now ranked third all-time at FSU with 107 points in her career.
