DURHAM, N.C. – For the second Sunday in a row, the Seminoles have knocked off a Top 10 team on the road as No. 9 Florida State (13-4-2) defeated No. 5 Duke (14-3-2) by a score of 1-0 in the quarterfinal round of the ACC Championship in front of 730 people at Koskinen Stadium.
The Noles advance to the semifinals and will take on No. 11 Virginia (15-3-0) on November 2 at 8:00 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.
With the win, Florida State remains unbeaten against Duke in the ACC Championship as they improve to 4-0-1 all-time against the Blue Devils in the conference tournament. It is just the second time FSU has won at Koskinen Stadium, joining the 2-1 victory in 2013, as the Noles are now 2-6-6 on the road against the Blue Devils.
“Today was a great road victory for us,” said FSU head coach Mark Krikorian. “Duke has had a great season and are going to do very well in the NCAA Tournament. I think we feel very good about coming in here and playing at a very high level and winning the game against another Top 10 team.”
It was hard for either team to create scoring chances in the first half as it was a midfield battle between a pair of Top 10 teams. Duke was able to find numbers in the offensive third in the 16th minute as Delaney Graham sent a cross in from the right, but FSU’s Natalia Kuikkaheaded it up and Jaelin Howell cleared it away from danger.
A Duke foul to Kristen McFarland in the 23rd minute led to the first goal of the match as the Seminoles were able to take a free kick from 25 yards on the right. The initial cross attempt was blocked, but the ball came back out to Deyna Castellanos, who sent a long ball to Kristina Lynch beyond the far post. The freshman headed it back toward the goal and McFarland headed it home to put FSU up 1-0.
The Blue Devils had a free kick from 25 yards in the 40th minute, but the shot from Karlie Paschall was blocked by the FSU wall as the match went to halftime with the Noles holding a 1-0 lead.
FSU took the first four shots of the second half and limited the Duke offense’s ability to find the equalizer. The Noles didn’t allow a shot from the Blue Devils until the 59th minute as Marykate McGuire’s shot was blocked by Kuikka.
Duke had one final scoring chance in the 85th minute as after a deep throw-in, McCoy took a shot from 30 yards on the left, but FSU’s Brooke Bollinger jumped up to save it to secure the victory.
For the match, the Seminoles outshot Duke 14-5, 5-3 in shots on goal and both teams recorded three corner kicks.
Friday’s ACC semifinal match against Virginia will air on ACC Network Extra, with a link for the broadcast and live stats available on the soccer schedule page of Seminoles.com. Tickets for the ACC Championship are $10 for each day (November 2 and 4) and are available on www.theacc.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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