TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – No. 3 Florida State (9-0-2, 4-0-1 ACC) scored three first half goals and cruised to a 4-0 victory over intra-state rival Miami (6-4-0, 1-4-0 ACC) Thursday evening in front of a crowd of over 1,200 inside the Seminole Soccer Complex.
Berglind Thorvaldsdottir scored the first two goals of the match for her second career multi-goal game of the season, while Jamia Fields and Carson Pickett each registered two assists in the win. Freshman Anna McClung broke through with her first collegiate goal late in the first half and Marta Bakowska-Mathews closed out the scoring on Thursday night with her second goal in as many games.
“We’ve had a lot of chances in an awful lot of games and unfortunately we were not quite good in the penalty box, but tonight we did a much better job of finishing our chances,” Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian said. “It’s nice to see Berglind (Thorvaldsdottir) come in and knock a couple in and Anna (McClung) as well, as that was her first goal; and what a heck of a finish by Marta (Bakowska-Mathews) at the end.”
The Florida State defense was once again up for the challenge limiting Miami to just one shot as the Seminoles posted their league leading eighth shutout of the season. The Garnet & Gold have allowed just three goals through the first 11 matches and only one over the last 617:54.
“Our defending was quite good and solid,” Krikorian added. “Overall I’m pleased with the way our kids played tonight.”
With the win, the Seminoles maintained their lead atop the ACC standings with 13 points. Florida State also kept its home unbeaten streak alive following Thursday night’s victory pushing the school record mark to 26 games (25-0-1).
Thorvaldsdottir opened the scoring in the 16th minute thanks to a great passing combination from Nickolette Driesse and Jamia Fields. Driesse found Fields streaking down the right side of the pitch. The Alta Loma, Calif., native then made a great low lining pass back into the middle of the 18-yard box where Thorvaldsdottir one-timed the cross off Miami keeper Emily Lillard and into the net.
“The biggest thing was scoring in the first half and by scoring in the first 15 minutes it really opened up the game,” Pickett said. “I think we put some passes together and finished our chances when we could.”
The Icelandic native was at it again in the 25th minute redirecting a cross from Fields inside the left post for her team leading fifth goal of the season to give FSU a 2-0 edge. The assist for Fields was her second of the game, first multi-assist game of the season and third of her career. With the two assists tonight, Fields now has 10 career assists in ACC play moving her into sole possession of second place in the Florida State record books.
“It felt really good,” said Thorvaldsdottir. “I’m glad I’m scoring goals again. Overall, our performance was really good. In the last game, it was pretty frustrating because we didn’t finish our chances. It was nice to see a lot of people scoring goals and creating chances tonight.”
The Seminoles pushed their lead to 3-0 in the 38th minute courtesy of McClung’s first collegiate goal. Pickett began the scoring chance blasting a shot from about 25 yards out that Lillard saved but could not handle. McClung out raced everyone to the loose ball as she put away the rebound for the goal.
“It felt great, especially against an ACC team,” McClung said on scoring her first goal. “We had lots of goals with great finishes and I’m glad I could contribute to that tonight.”
Pickett would record her second assist of the night in the 83rd minute as her cross deflected off a Miami defender right to Bakowska-Mathews, who finished with a beautiful shot inside the right post from about 20 yards out for her second goal of the season. It marked Pickett’s first career multi-assist game.
Florida State outshot Miami 17-1 for the match including an 11-0 margin in the first half. Miami’s lone shot did not come until the 78th minute when Betsy Middleton fired a low-liner from just inside the 18-yard box, but the ball was blocked by Kirsten Crowley.
“It’s a great feeling, but it doesn’t mean we have to give up on defense,” added Pickett. “That’s the biggest thing – even though we are scoring we have to play just as good on defense to make sure they don’t get one in the back of our net.”
Seminole keeper Kelsey Wys played all 90 minutes between the posts to earn her eighth shutout of the season and in the process lowered her ACC leading goals against average to 0.26.
Florida State returns to action on Sunday, September 29 when the Seminoles travel to face Clemson at 1:00 p.m.
