CLEMSON, S.C. – No. 3 Florida State (9-0-3, 4-0-2 ACC) earned a hard fought 1-1 tie at Clemson (6-2-3, 3-1-1 ACC) Sunday afternoon inside historic Riggs Field thanks to a late equalizer by Dagny Brynjarsdottir as the Seminoles stayed unbeaten on the year.
“Obviously we go into every game hoping and expecting that we are going to win the game, but credit to Clemson they came out, had a fantastic game plan and executed that game plan,” Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian said. “They scored a nice goal and made us chase the game.”
Clemson grabbed the early lead on a goal by Vanessa Laxgang in the 11th minute. Claire Wagner sent a deep ball down the left hand side of the pitch over the Seminole defense. Laxgang ran in on the ball and one-timed a shot into the upper right corner for her fifth goal of the season to give the Tigers a 1-0 advantage.
The lead would hold until the 86th minute when Brynjarsdottir tied the match at 1-1 on her fourth goal of the season. Nickolette Driesse earned the assist on the play sending a cross into the box that was initially tipped by Clemson keeper Kailen Sheridan. Brynjarsdottir was on the receiving end of the loose ball, as she collected the ball, turned and fired with her left foot to find the back of the net.
The late goal by Brynjarsdottir marked the sixth time this year the Seminoles have scored after the 80th minute of play.
“The bright part is that our group continues to battle and be resilient in tough situations,” added Krikorian. “But we have to be more efficient. There are times when we are taking these shots from long range and making it easier for the opposing keepers. We can’t afford to just give the ball away and lose possessions.
“But that’s the game of soccer, we have to continue to create chances and then finish them. On the day, we created a few good chances but their goalkeeper was quite good and their defending was good.
Brynjarsdottir finished with a match-high five shots as four came in the second half including three on goal. The Icelandic native had a great scoring chance seconds before tying the match as she had a one-on-one opportunity with Sheridan after a great pass from Berglind Thorvaldsdottir found her wide open on the right side of the 18-yard box. But the Tiger keeper came in with a diving save to keep Clemson’s lead intact.
Neither team was able to put together much offensively in overtime as the only shot came from Clemson with nine seconds left in the second overtime. Jenna Polonsky’s shot came off a corner but the Seminole defense blocked the shot as the game ended in a tie.
The tie extended Florida State’s unbeaten streak in the series to 15 games (12-0-3).
Florida State finished the match out shooting Clemson 13-10, while the Seminoles held the edge in corners at 6-1.
Seminole keeper Kelsey Wys played the entire 110 minutes in goal making five saves on the afternoon. Sheridan finished with eight saves in 110 minutes for Clemson.
“Again I thought our group was pretty resilient in the second half and overtime periods and started to play a whole lot better,” Krikorian said. “The message to everybody is if you don’t come and bring your best performance in this conference than you are not going to win.
“Credit Clemson, they are a good team and they are going to continue to take points and win games in the ACC. We just have to be better; our players know it.”
Florida State wasn’t able to generate a whole lot offensively in the first half as Clemson outshot the Seminoles 6-5. The best scoring opportunity for the Noles in the first half came in the 17th minute when Jamia Fields sent a cross into the box that was headed on goal by Brynjarsdottir, but Sheridan was there for the save.
Clemson put five of its six first half shots on goal with Wys making four saves. Sheridan made all three of her saves as the Seminoles went into the locker room trailing for the first time this year.
Florida State returns to action at home on Thursday, October 3 when the Seminoles host Boston College at 7:00 p.m. FSU players will be wearing pink jerseys for the match in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Fans will have a chance to bid on the jerseys online at Seminoles.com following the match. Proceeds from the match will be donated to the Tallahassee Memorial Cancer Center.
The game will air live on ESPN3, while live state will be available via gametracker. As always, Seminole fans can follow the Noles on twitter @FSU_Soccer and remember to like the Seminoles on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FSUSoccer) and Instagram (NoleSoccer).
