TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) – Winners of 18 straight home matches, which is tied for the second longest streak in school history, No. 2 Florida State (11-1-1, 4-0-1 ACC) recorded a 4-0 win over NC State (4-9-0, 0-4-0 ACC) on Thursday night at the Seminole Soccer Complex. It is the third shutout in a row for FSU, fourth against ACC opponents and ninth overall in 2015.
“After scoring a quick goal, I thought we continued to play well and create some very good chances,” said FSU head coach Mark Krikorian. “I think it is really important to stay aggressive, understanding that one goal may or may not be enough to hold up over the course of 90 minutes. NC State’s defending and goalkeeper were quite good in keeping us off the board for a while in the first half and fortunately we were able to break through with a heck of a goal from Elin (Jensen).”
The Seminoles jumped on top of the Wolfpack right away as Michaela Hahn opened the scoring with a blast from 25 yards at 1:49. The play started as Natalia Kuikka found Carson Pickettdown the left side and the senior defender passed it back into the middle of the field for Isabella Schmid. Schmid turned and passed to an open Hahn who struck the ball into the upper corner to give the Noles a 1-0 lead. It is the third game this season where the Seminoles have scored in the first two minutes of the match.
FSU nearly made it 2-0 in the 13th minute as Schmid made a great pass to flick the ball over the defender to Megan Connolly who ripped a shot on her first touch that ricocheted off the crossbar and over the goal.
In the 24th minute, Cheyna Williams received the ball out on the right side and slipped a great pass for Kuikka behind the defense, but the freshman couldn’t quite make a play on the ball as NC State goalkeeper Sydney Wootten snatched it up.
The Noles broke through with their second goal of the match in the 35th minute on a score by Elin Jensen. Jensen made a great play near the end line to maintain possession and brought the ball back near the top of the box. Her cross was deflected by several NC State and FSU players and came back to her about 12 yards from the goal where freshman midfielder fired a shot that ended up in the back of the net. It was the fourth goal of the season for Jensen, and all have come in the last six games.
Florida State scored again at 41:47, stretching out the lead to 3-0 with a goal from Dallas Dorosy. Senior Megan Campbell sent the ball down the left side to Pickett who served an excellent ball into the box. Berglind Thorvaldsdottir looked like she would be able to make a play on the cross and drew the defenders to her, but she let the ball through to Dorosy on the back side who finished the play for her third goal of the season.
In the second half, FSU continued with the pressure, earning corner kicks and shots, but several were blocked or not on frame. Pickett sent in a great ball for Williams in the 59th minute, but her header went wide of the goal.
NC State had one of its best scoring chances in the 64th minute as Jenna Kalwa passed a ball near the top of the box for Caroline Gentry who made an impressive head pass to Jackie Stengel on the left side. Stengel got behind the FSU backline and took a shot from seven yards that FSU goalkeeper Cassie Miller saved with her left foot as she went to the ground. Stengel collected the ball and took another shot from 12 yards on the left side that was saved by Miller and went over the end line for an NCSU corner.
On the corner, Kalwa sent in a quality ball but Miller again made a great play and jumped above the players to catch the ball before it could reach the heads of any NC State player and ended the threat.
Florida State scored its final goal following a rare play in the 67th minute. Williams started the sequence with a low shot from 20 yards on the right side of the field that was stopped by Wootten as she went to her knees. The rebound bounced out in front of her and FSU’s Connolly and NC State’s Alyson Brown each charged for the ball as Wootten got up and went after the ball.
Before Connolly could make a play, Brown intentionally kicked the ball back to her keeper Wootten who grabbed the ball with her hands, resulting in an indirect free kick for FSU from three yards out. Connolly and Schmid lined up for the kick as nearly the entire NC State team was on the end line in front of the goal. When the ref blew the whistle to resume play, Connolly lightly tapped the ball back and Schmid laced a shot up that went just under the crossbar and gave the Noles a 4-0 lead.
It was Schmid’s third goal of the season and her first multi-point performance of 2015 as she ended with three points on a goal and an assist. Connolly’s assist increased her team-high point total to 17 as she has recorded either a goal or an assist in nine of the 10 games she has played.
The Noles now turn their attention to No. 1 North Carolina (11-1-1, 4-1-0 ACC) who comes to Tallahassee for a match on Sunday, October 11 at noon. The match between the Seminoles and the Tar Heels will be broadcast on the Regional Sports Networks and ESPN3 with Pete Pranica and Katie Witham in the broadcast booth. Live stats will also be available on Seminoles.com.
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