TROY, Ala. – Behind a five-point performance by sophomore Deyna Castellanos on two goals and an assist, No. 16 Florida State (5-1-0) earned a 4-1 win over Troy (2-5-2) on Wednesday at the Troy Soccer Complex.
It marked Castellanos’ third multi-goal game of the season and increased her team and ACC lead in points (17) and goals (8).
“For the most part, it was good to get back on the field,” said head coach Mark Krikorian. “It’s been a very interesting number of days that we’ve had. Coming here, and the hospitality that Troy has shown is wonderful and we’re thankful that they were able to put his game together at the last minute.
“I think our kids came out and competed very favorably and [Troy head coach] Ged [O’Connor] and [associate head coach] Joe [Connon] and the group at Troy do a great job and are such a good team. We feel good to get out of here with the win and are ready to be back in Tallahassee.”
Florida State controlled possession in the early going, taking four shots and earning two corners in the first seven minutes, but couldn’t find the back of the net. However, the only quality offensive possession in the first half for Troy resulted in the match’s first goal.
The Trojans earned a corner in the 13th minute and the service from Kiersten Edland found Nicole Strahl in the middle of the six-yard box amongst a large group of FSU and Troy players and Strahl was able to head it into the net for a 1-0 lead.
The Seminoles quickly tied the match off the foot of Castellanos as the sophomore received a ball in the left side of the penalty area from Clara Robbins, spun around her defender and struck the ball inside the far post in the 16th minute.
Olivia Bergau gave Florida State the lead less than four minutes later as her run on the left side was found by Gloriana Villalobos, despite deflecting off a couple of defenders, and the junior was able to score her first goal of the year to make it 2-1 FSU.
Adrienne Richardson made it 3-1 Seminoles in the 20th minute, as she used a nice controlling touch near midfield to start a 2v2 breakaway with Castellanos. Passing forward to her Venezuelan teammate, Richardson made a run on the right and Castellanos gave a great assist for the freshman to score her first collegiate goal.
The second half was a low-scoring affair as neither team was able to produce significant offensive chances. The Seminoles held the ball for the bulk of the final 45 minutes and made runs into the box and down the sides, but couldn’t connect the final pass.
Castellanos closed out the scoring in the 89th minute, connecting on a ball from Robbins again as the defender sent a long ball from the FSU back line that bounced behind the Troy defense about 30 yards from the goal. The sophomore forward was able to get on the end of it and chipped it over the Troy goalkeeper’s head to create the 4-1 final score.
Overall, FSU outshot Troy, 17-2, and held an advantage in corners at 9-2.
Next up for the Seminoles will be the 2017 ACC opener as FSU will host No. 10 North Carolina (4-2-0) at the Seminole Soccer Complex on Sunday, September 17 at 1:00 p.m. The match will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra and live stats will be provided on Seminoles.com. Admission is free for all home regular season games for Florida State soccer.
Florida State vs. Florida Rescheduled
The Fresh from Florida Sunshine Showdown Florida State versus Florida soccer match is back on, thanks to assists from members of each team’s conference. The new date is Thursday, Oct. 12. Match time is set for 6 p.m. at the James G. Pressly Stadium. The match couldn’t be held on the original date, Friday, Sept. 8, due to Hurricane Irma’s approach.
To keep the Florida State-Florida soccer match from being canceled for the second consecutive year due to a hurricane took some help from upcoming opponents for both teams.Auburn agreed to move its Friday, Oct. 13 home date with Florida to Sunday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. ET, while Wake Forest pushed its home match with Florida State ahead a day to Oct. 15.
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