CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – In a Physical battle, the No. 5 Florida State Soccer team (12-4-0, 6-2) fell to No. 3 North Carolina (14-1-1, 7-0-1) 2-0 in Chapel Hill.
“We lost to a team that was better than we were,” said head coach Mark Krikorian. “I thought that they played harder and were more prepared. At the end of the day, they did the things that were necessary to win the game. Congratulations to Carolina, good win for them. We will go back and regroup and hopefully, we will get better.”
The first half was a dog fight as neither team could get on the board. The Seminole backline was tested as UNC got off five shots to the Noles two. It was the second-fewest shots FSU has taken in a first half this season.
In the 13th minute, UNC’s Pinto got off a shot that went over Caroline Jeffers’ head and hit the crossbar. Four minutes later FSU would get off their first shot of the half as Jenna Nighswonger crossed it to Yujie Zhao but the shot was wide.
In the 20th minute, Carolina would get off another good look, this one a header that would go off the post. In the 23rd minute, Jeffers would make her first and only save of the first half to keep it scoreless.
The second half was a stalemate until the 76th minute when Carolina would break the scoreless tie. It started with a Deyna Castellanos shot just nine seconds into the half. UNC would get off their first shot in the 48th minute and it would be the third one to hit the post.
The Noles would get a couple of good looks on passes by Nighswonger to Heather Payne and Zhao but neither could convert. In the 76th minute, Ru Mucherera would get her third goal of the season on an assist by Lotte Wubben-Moy. Seven minutes later, in the 83rd minute, North Carolina would put it out of reach with a goal by Brianna Pinto, her ninth of the season, to make it 2-0.
The Seminoles now head to Winston Salem, N.C. to take on Wake Forest this Sunday at 1 pm 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 116-55-21 all-time in the month of October, 72-22-13 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.
