WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In the lone top 10 contest on the opening night of ACC play across the league Thursday night, No. 4 Florida State (5-0-2) played to a scoreless draw against No. 7 Wake Forest (5-0-1) inside Spry Stadium to earn a key point on the road.

It marked the first tie for the Seminole all-time in an ACC opener and the second tie against the Deacs in Winston Salem.  It was also the third scoreless draw played between these two schools and the first since an ACC Tournament showdown in Cary, N.C. back in 2006.

“Our young kids are coming of age,” Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian said. “We came in against a very good team and I thought our kids battled very hard. At times, we made the game look very, very good and other times we weren’t as precise as we needed to be. But to come into Wake Forest, have a good deal of play and be dangerous at different times; to come away with a draw is not a bad result.”

Florida State finished the match out shooting Wake Forest 10-3 while the Seminole defense limited the Demon Deacons to just one shot over the final 65 minutes of play including holding MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List candidate Katie Stengel without a shot in 110 minutes of action.

Of the 13 total shots attempted on Thursday night, only four went on goal with three of those coming from the Seminoles.  Wake Forest’s lone shot on goal came in the 16th minute of play as it was easily handled by Kelsey Wys. 

Wys played the entire match between the posts to pick up her fifth shutout of the season.  The Seminole defense has yielded just two goals in the first seven matches this season lowering their league leading goals against average to 0.27.

Dagny Brynjarsdottir led all players Thursday night with three shots, while seven other Seminoles recorded one.

“The goals are going to come,” added Krikorian. “We have all kinds of fire power. With our style of play, we will eventually be able to open teams up and the goals will start coming. We are not going to change our philosophy or the way we do things.  We just have to be a little more precise when we get in front of the goal because there are enough chances for a goal to happen.”

Neither team was able to create much offensively in the first half as Florida State went into the locker room with a 5-2 advantage in shots and a 2-0 edge in corner kicks. 

The Seminoles registered the game’s first scoring chance in the fourth minute when Carson Pickett sent a through ball to Brynjarsdottir that split the Demon Deacon defense. The Icelandic native took one touch before firing a shot on goal but Wake keeper Aubrey Bledsoe came in with a diving save to break-up the opportunity. 

Wake’s lone shot of the game came in the 16th minute when Ally Berry’s shot from the right side of the pitch was saved by Wys on the near post. 

The second half was a mirror image of the first 45 minutes as both teams combined to take just four shots with the Seminoles recording three. 

The best opportunity came off the foot of Berglind Thorvaldsdottir, who made a nice turn-around shot from the top of the 18-yard box following a low-lining pass from Hikaru Murakami.  But Bledsoe was there with a diving save to keep the game scoreless.  

Wake’s only shot in the final 65 minutes of the match came in the 82nd minute when a shot by Riley Ridgik was blocked by the Seminoles.

Florida State attempted the only two shots in overtime with one in each of the two overtime periods.  In the 96th minute, Brynjarsdottir send a header wide of the left post on a cross from Megan Campbell.

Yulie Lopez registered the final shot of the game in the 108th minute as her shot in the second overtime when wide of the left post from about 14 yards out.

Florida State will stay on the road to face No. 15 Duke on Sunday, September 15 at 1:00 p.m. The match will air live over the web on the Blue Devil Network. As always, Seminole fans can follow the Noles on twitter @FSU_Soccer and remember to like the Seminoles on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FSUSoccer).

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