TALLAHASSEE, FLA.  –   Third-ranked Florida State defeated fifth-ranked North Carolina 1-0 in women’s soccer action Wednesday night at Seminole Soccer Complex before 1,786 fans.  The Tar Heels dropped their second straight 1-0 match and fell to 7-2 overall on the season and 1-2 in the ACC.  The Seminoles improved to 7-0-2 overall and 2-0-1 in the ACC.

 

Although the Tar Heels outshot the Seminoles 17-10 and had an edge in corner kicks 8-2, it was all for naught as the Seminoles beat Carolina for the third straight time in the series.  Each of those three wins by the Seminoles have come by 1-0 scores.

 

The deciding goal came late in the contest after the Tar Heels were called for a handball near midfield.  On the quick restart, Florida State pounced on the UNC mistake and made the Heels pay dearly.  Jamia Fields scored for the Seminoles from 18 yards out on the right side of the pitch, curling a crossing shot into the upper left 90 of the goal with just 7:37 left before the end of regulation.

 

Kelsey Wys made nine saves for Florida State, her most of the season and the most she has had since recording seven in a 1-0 Florida State win over the Tar Heels on September 27, 2012.

 

The first half was a scoreless experience between the Tar Heels and the Seminoles with UNC having seven first half shots and the Seminoles taking five shots.

 

Kelsey Wys made five saves in the first half for the Seminoles while Anna Sieloff played the first 45 minutes for Carolina and made one save.  Three of the saves by Wys in the first half came on shots by Kealia Ohai and she also made saves on shots by Megan Brigman and Emily Bruder.  Florida State’s Dagny Brynjarsdottir probably had the best scoring chance of the first half as she got behind the UNC defense in the penalty area but missed high on her shot from 10 yards.  After a defensive error by UNC gave the Seminoles a corner kick in the 41st minute, Sieloff came up big for the Tar Heels are she saved a shot from Yulie Lopez from 18 yards, diving the gobble up the ball.

 

The Tar Heels had the run of play in the second half and created 10 shots to five for the Seminoles but Wys was equal to the task on every occasion.  Fields eventually scored the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute, putting the Tar Heels in a similar position to last year when they entered the Miami game with a 1-2-1 ACC record after a home loss to Florida State.

 

The Tar Heels will travel to Miami on Thursday in advance of a game against the Hurricanes on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Cobb Stadium.  UNC leads the all-time series against the Hurricanes 8-2.  The Tar Heels will look to overcome their recent offensive problems in the game against the Canes.  UNC has outshot Notre Dame and FSU 35-15 in the last two games but dropped back-to-back 1-0 decision.

 

The loss to Florida State was the fifth for the Tar Heels against the Seminoles in history.  FSU has more wins against Carolina than any other school in history.  Notre Dame owns the most with six.  Florida State is the only the third team in history to have beaten Carolina three times in a row.  The others were Santa Clara (1999, 2001, 2002) and Maryland (2010, 2011, 2012).

 

Live stats for Sunday’s UNC-Miami game will be on GoHeels.com and HurricaneSports.com will carry a live video feed of the contest.