TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In a full team effort that saw 21 players in action in the Garnet and Gold, the Seminoles closed out opening weekend on a high note as No. 10 Florida State (2-0-0) posted a 5-0 victory over Troy (1-1-0) on Sunday evening at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
Freshman Kristina Lynch shined on the offensive end for the Noles, scoring the first two goals of her career, and fellow freshman Yujie Zhao added her first goal as well on a penalty kick.
“We knew that this weekend we were going to have some good, hard competition,” said FSU head coach Mark Krikorian. “They came in here and gave us a great opening weekend. We saw some very good things, but also learned some things about ourselves that we are going to have to get better at. So by and large, good opening weekend for us and now we get to move on and go on the road.”
Much like on Thursday night, an early FSU attack ended up with a shot off the crossbar as redshirt sophomore Malia Berkely sent a ball into the box and senior Megan Connollyheaded the ball on frame, but a punch save by Troy’s Acelya Aydogmus pushed the ball up into the crossbar and away.
Freshman Kirsten Pavlisko had a solid chance in the eighth minute, driving from the left across the top of the box and sending a shot that sailed just high.
Lynch put the Seminoles on the board in the 13th minute as Berkely sent a long ball down the left side and the freshman worked into the box and fired the ball into the net from 15 yards to put FSU up 1-0.
Strong play in the box by Dallas Dorosy led to the second goal of the game for Florida State as the senior worked into position for a Lynch cross in the 27th minute, but was taken down by the Troy defenders for a penalty kick. Connolly stepped to the spot and converted the PK for a 2-0 Seminole advantage.
Berkely continued to serve several dangerous balls to give FSU quality scoring chances, but saves from Aydogmus stopped strong shots by Macayla Edwards in the 36th minute and Connolly in the 38th minute.
For the second-straight game, the Florida State defense did not allow a shot or a corner kick in the first half and the only quality offensive threat for the Trojans came off the opening kickoff for the second half as Natalie Melillo worked down the left side and took a shot that was easily saved by FSU’s Brooke Bollinger in the 46th minute.
Lynch narrowly missed a goal a minute later from a low cross by Connolly that went just over the crossbar, but the duo combined for the third goal of the game at 47:55 as Connolly launched a pass from the right toward the far post and Lynch got her head on it for a 3-0 Seminole lead.
Connolly was fouled as she dribbled through the box in the 74th minute, allowing Zhao to extend the lead to 4-0 after converting the penalty kick.
Freshman Jaelin Howell collected a loose ball near the top of the box in the 81st minute and drove a shot that required an impressive save away for a corner. Berkely’s service into the six-yard box bounced off several players before finding Olivia Bergau in face for the senior to put in the net for her first goal of the season.
Caroline Jeffers made her first appearance for Florida State and played the final eight minutes in goal for the Noles, as FSU controlled possession the rest of the way for the 5-0 victory.
Overall, the Seminoles outshot the Trojans 28-1 and posted 15 shots on goal. FSU also held a 9-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Florida State will travel for its only non-conference road game this week, heading to Madison, Wisc., for a match with RV Wisconsin (0-0-0) on Thursday, August 23 at 8:00 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed on BTN Plus, tickets are available at www.uwbadgers.com 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.
