TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – With a pair of outstanding goals, junior forward Deyna Castellanoshelped No. 7 Florida State (8-1-1, 1-1-0 ACC) post a 3-0 victory over Virginia Tech (4-2-3, 0-1-0 ACC) on Thursday night at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
It marked the seventh multi-goal game of Castellanos’ career and the junior moved into a tie for sixth place all-time in FSU history with the 28th and 29th goals of her career.
Virginia Tech entered the game having allowed just four goals over 780 minutes on the season, including a penalty kick and an own goal, and hadn’t surrendered a goal in the month of September, but the Seminole offense dominated the match and nearly doubled the Hokies’ goals against average on Thursday night.
“I think that by and large, we came out strong and took control of the game,” said FSU head coach Mark Krikorian. “We got ahold of the ball early and played a solid 90 minutes today. We had great contribution off the bench from a lot of players, so I think we walk away feeling pretty good.
“Virginia Tech is a good team, are very well-coached and are very competitive. They are going to win their fair share of games, that’s for sure. But now we turn all of our attention to Boston College.”
Florida State got out to a great start as its first shot of the game went into the back of the net as Castellanos lined up a free kick from 20 yards on the left after a foul to Kristen McFarland and bent the ball over VT goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn and under the crossbar for a quick 1-0 Seminole lead in the fourth minute. It was the quickest goal scored by FSU this season.
Castellanos gave the Noles a quality chance in the 25th minute, as a free kick from 35 yards bounced into and through the six-yard box, but no Seminole was able to get on the end of it.
Virginia Tech took its first shot of the match in the 34th minute as Karlie Johnson’s shot from 20 yards was blocked by Natalia Kuikka at the top of the penalty box. The Hokies had a quality chance in the 37th minute as a loose ball after a throw-in bounced out to Bridget Patch for a shot that was saved by FSU’s Brooke Bollinger.
Florida State made it 2-0 in the 41st minute as Malia Berkely worked through the midfield, found Gloriana Villalobos and the sophomore chipped the ball behind the VT backline for Alexa Orrante to slot into the back of the net. It was her first goal of the season and she became the 13th different Seminole to score a goal in 2018, which is tied for second-most in the NCAA this season, trailing only Mercer (14).
Virginia Tech had its best chance to score coming right out of halftime, as a free kick in the 46th minute was sent into the penalty box, but it was overran by Bollinger and the ball bounced off Yujie Zhao near the penalty spot and headed toward the goal. Senior Natalia Kuikka saved the own goal situation with a diving tackle to clear the ball away to safety.
Another foul to McFarland just outside the penalty box allowed Zhao to send a free kick into the six-yard box in the 54th minute, but Anna Patten’s header was saved by McGlynn.
Virginia Tech created some offense in the 63rd minute as a pair of shots were blocked by Kuikka and Kirsten Pavlisko respectively, but the Hokies could manage any additional threat.
Castellanos showed her skill shortly after as she worked down to the endline on the left, danced through three different Hokie defenders before blasting a shot from 10 yards into the net at 64:02 to put the Seminoles up 3-0.
Florida State allowed Virginia Tech just one shot for the remainder of the game as the Noles controlled possession until the final whistle.
The Seminoles will wrap up the weekend on Sunday, September 23 with a match at RV Boston College (9-0-0, 1-0-0 ACC) that will begin at 1:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra and a link for live stats will be available on the soccer schedule page on Seminoles.com.
Throughout 2018-19, the Seminoles will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of women’s intercollegiate athletics at Florida State and there are many events and reunions planned for all women’s sports. Head to www.seminoles.com/50th/for more information that will be updated throughout the year.
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