FSU Blanks NC State

Ines Jaurena and Tiffany McCarty each score to pace the Seminoles to victory on Sunday.

 

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Tenth-ranked Florida State (9-4-0, 2-3-0 ACC) returned to its winning ways Sunday afternoon blanking NC State (8-4-2, 0-3-2 ACC) 2-0 for the Seminoles first ACC shutout of the season.

 

“Overall, I thought we had pretty good control of the game,” said head coach Mark Krikorian.  “We kept the ball, attacked a lot of different ways and created an awful lot of chances, but again we have to put the ball in the net to make the game come a little easier for us.”

 

The Seminoles scored in each half thanks to goals by Ines Jaurena and Tiffany McCarty, while Taylor Vancil kept the Wolfpack off the scoreboard making two saves in 90 minutes to record her second shutout of the season and first of her career in the ACC.

 

“It’s huge,” said Vancil on coming up with a shutout victory on Sunday.  “We really haven’t played our style of soccer and I felt like we got back to that today.  Hopefully we can move forward and take the momentum into next weekend’s match against Virginia.”

 

“It’s one of those things that we know that we have a lot of depth,” added Krikorian.  “We were able to try some different things today and the players that stepped in did a very good job.”

 

FSU continued its dominance over NC State as the Seminoles pushed their win streak to 11 straight and are now unbeaten in their last 13 games against the Wolfpack (11-0-2).  The Seminoles have outscored the Wolfpack 33-9 during the span with four shutouts. NC State’s last win in the series dates back to 1998.

 

Florida State created several great scoring opportunities in the first half but could not find the back of the net until Jaurena and Hikaru Murakami combined with less than two minutes left in the half to give the Seminoles a 1-0 lead. 

 

Murakami began the scoring play as she fired a shot off the right post from about 8 yards out.  The Japanese native collected the rebound and sent a pass back up the field to Jaurena, who one-timed a shot that ricocheted off a Wolfpack player and into the back of the net for her second goal of the season. 

 

“Hikaru did a good job of creating the scoring chance,” said Jaurena.  “She was going to shoot but I yelled to her.  She put the ball back and I shot the ball on frame.”

 

The Seminoles first great scoring chance in the first half came off the first corner kick of the afternoon in the 15th minute.  Tiana Brockway sent the kick toward the far post where Ella Stephan out jumped the competition and put a header on goal.  Wolfpack keeper Kim Kern was there for the save, one of eight on the day, to keep the game scoreless. 

 

McCarty had two scoring opportunities in the 31st minute but was denied as her first shot was saved by Kern.  The rebound off the save came to Dagny Brynjarsdottir whose deflected pass came to the feet of McCarty.  The junior forward one-timed her second shot wide of the right post. 

 

Less than five minutes later following another Seminole corner kick, the ball was played out to the left side of the pitch to Toni Pressley.  Pressley made a run toward the end line before firing a cross that just missed the head of Janice Cayman, who came streaking into the box. 

 

Florida State went into the locker room with a 12-3 shots advantage, while maintaining the edge in corner kicks at 4-1. 

 

The second half was reminiscent of the first half with the Seminoles controlling possession and creating chances, but unable to find the back of the net until the 80th minute.

 

Brynjarsdottir slotted a nice ball in between two defenders to McCarty running down the middle of the field.  With Kern coming out to break up the run, McCarty made a nice move to her left to beat the keeper and finished the play with an empty net goal for her team leading 11th goal of the season.    

 

With 39 career goals, McCarty is one goal shy of tying the Florida State all-time record held by Cindy Schofield with 40 (1999-2002). 

 

Brynjarsdottir had two more scoring chances thwarted by Kern in the second half as headers in the 53rd minute and 79th minute were both saved. 

 

Tori Huster fired a shot wide of the left post in the 59th minute following a long run by Janice Cayman down the left side of the pitch.  The senior from Belgium dribbled toward the end line before firing a cross to Huster at the top of the box. 

 

NC State’s only real scoring threat in the second half came in the 78th minute when Paige Dugal fired a shot just high of the crossbar from about 30 yards out. 

 

FSU finished the game out shooting NC State 20-5. 

 

“The best thing about today is the win,” said Jaurena.  “Gaining confidence and earning three points is exactly what we needed today.”

 

Florida State will hit the road for its lone contest of the week when the Seminoles travel to Charlottesville to face Virginia on Saturday, October 8.  Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.  Live stats will be available on the Cavaliers’ athletic website at Virginiasports.com, while fans can receive updates throughout the game on Twitter at @FSU_Soccer. 

 

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