NEWTON, Mass. – No. 1 Florida State (14-1-0, 7-1-0 ACC) suffered its first loss of the season falling to No. 24 Boston College (10-5-2, 4-4-0 ACC) 3-2 Thursday evening on the Newton Soccer Field.

The Eagles scored three unanswered goals including two in the second half to register their first-ever victory over the Seminoles snapping FSU’s 10-game unbeaten streak in the series (8-0-2). It marked the most goals allowed by the Seminoles since a 3-0 setback to Stanford in the semifinals of the College Cup in Kennesaw, Ga., last year.

“I thought the better team won tonight,” said head coach Mark Krikorian. “Boston College was better than we were; they competed harder than we did and I don’t think that we were as good passing and receiving the ball and keeping the ball as we needed to be.  It’s quite simple, you need to go out and you need to compete to show that you are prepared to battle in games of this magnitude and when you have the ball, you need to value the ball.”

FSU entered the contest giving up just three goals through the first 14 games, but the Eagles matched that total Thursday night as Kate McCarthy, Stephanie McCaffrey and Kristen Mewis all found the back of the net for BC in the upset victory. 

The loss was just the first for the Seminoles when ranked No. 1 since 2006. 

“We weren’t good enough tonight,” added Krikorian. “Credit to Boston College; they came in, had a good game plan and executed their game plan better than we executed ours.  They got the three points.”

Florida State got on the board first Thursday night breaking the scoreless tie in the 37th minute on the third Seminole corner kick of the half.  Carson Pickett sent a beautiful bender to the far post where Kristin Grubka out jumped the competition with a header that sent the ball into the back of the net for her fifth goal of the season to give FSU a 1-0 lead. 

Boston College found the equalizer just before the half as McCarthy one-timed a low liner inside the left post for her fifth goal of the year.  The goal came off a double passing combination from Victoria DiMartino and McCaffrey as the score snapped FSU’s consecutive scoreless minute streak at over 934 minutes. 

It marked the first goal allowed by the Seminoles in the ACC this year and the first goal given up since September 7.  The score also brought to a close Kelsey Wys’ consecutive minute shutout streak at 788:48 – the 18th longest streak in NCAA history. 

The second half belonged to the Eagles as Boston College became the first school this year to register a goal against the Seminoles after the 12th minute of play. 

FSU was unlucky in the 58th minute when a header by Tiffany McCarty off a cross by Ines Jaurena caromed off the left post.  The ball had plenty of movement on it as it traveled back across the front of the goal and then finally out of bounds passed the right post. 

BC responded as McCaffrey gave the Eagles their first lead of the match in the 67th minute as she one-timed a cross from DiMartino for her ninth goal of the season.  DiMartino dribbled down toward the end line trying to create room to make a play.  With Wys creeping out to cut off the angle on the near post, DiMartino sent a brilliant cross inside the box where McCaffrey was there to one-time the ball from three yards out to give BC a 2-1 advantage.

Boston College upped its lead to 3-1 in the 80th minute on an outstanding effort from Mewis.  The senior midfielder blasted a shot just underneath the crossbar from 25 yards out for her team leading 13th goal of the season. 

BC’s two second half goals were the first allowed by Florida State in the second half this year.  FSU entered the match outscoring the opposition 11-0 in the second half.

The goal by Mewis would loom large as Florida State would not go away quietly taking advantage of key BC turnover inside the Seminoles’ offensive third to cut the deficit to 3-2.  Jessica Price dribbled around BC keeper Alexa Gaul and poked a bending shot from the right side of the pitch inside the left netting for the goal in the 83rd minute.   

The Seminoles turned up the offensive pressure in the final seven minutes but could not find the equalizer to force overtime. 

“I don’t think we did a great job of linking passes together,” said Krikorian.  “I thought there were many times when people were open and we missed the passes or we didn’t receive the ball properly. It just broke down the rhythm of the game for us.”

Wys finished the game with five saves, while Gaul made three stops. 

Florida State outshot Boston College 13-12 but eight of the 12 shots taken by the Eagles were on frame.  Both teams attempted five corner kicks in the game.  FSU’s Tiana Brockway finished the match with a team-high three shots. 

“In this game, you have to have a bit of a short memory,” said Krikorian. “We need to take certain pieces out of this game and be better on Sunday when we go back out and play against a very good Maryland team.  We need to make sure that we are prepared in the midfield to compete.  We need to make sure that our defending is precise and organized as it has been all season long and we need to keep the ball.”

Top-ranked Florida State will remain on the road and head to College Park, Md., to face No. 7 Maryland on Sunday, October 21 at 1:00 p.m. Live stats for the match will be available via gametracker, while fans can always receive in-game updates on Twitter @FSU_Soccer.  Also, do not forget to like the Seminole Soccer team on Facebook at www.facebook.com/FSUSoccer.  

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