TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida State soccer program controlled nearly every aspect of Thursday’s match against RV/No. 22 UCF (4-2-1) as the No. 3 Seminoles (5-1-0) posted a 4-0 victory over the Knights in front of 1,213 fans at the Seminole Soccer Complex. It marked the 14th straight victory at home for FSU and its third shutout of the season.

 

“I thought that today was a solid performance for 90 minutes,” said FSU head coach Mark Krikorian. “I thought that in the first half, we came out fairly strong and created some pretty good chances and their keeper made a couple of good saves. After halftime, we came out and the kids followed the script and it went pretty well for us.”

 

The Seminoles had a great scoring chance in the sixth minute as freshman defender Macayla Edwards launched a deep ball down to Cheyna Williams at the top of the UCF box. Williams collected the ball and dribbled in and fired a shot from eight yards that beat the keeper but ricocheted off the post and was cleared away by a defender.

 

Florida State continued to pressure the Knights managing five shots and two corners in the first 25 minutes of action, including a save by UCF goalkeeper Vera Varis on a shot from Kirsten Crowley from inside the six-yard box.

 

The Seminoles got on the board in the 36th minute after a UCF foul set up a free kick opportunity for FSU. Senior midfielder Carson Pickett served the ball into the box and found the head of freshman Megan Connolly who redirected it into the goal for the first score of the game. It marked the second straight game that Connolly registered a goal and was Pickett’s team-leading fifth assist of the season.

 

FSU not only went into halftime with a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard, but also a 10-1 lead in shots with zero shots on goal for UCF.

 

The Noles struck quickly to open the second half as the Edwards/Williams connection worked in almost identical fashion as the scoring chance in the first half, but this time Williams’ shot was on frame and snuck under the keeper in the 47th minute to give FSU a 2-0 lead.

 

The game continued to be physical throughout the second half as UCF’s Hannah DeBose (50:00) and Darbi Filliben (54:20) were issued yellow cards on fouls in their own defensive end.

 

A UCF foul just outside of their own 18-yard box in the 58th minute set up Florida State’s third goal as Connolly’s free kick skimmed off the bottom of the crossbar and into the net for a 3-0 Seminole advantage.

 

It was Connolly’s second goal of the game and third of the season. It was the first multi-goal game for a Seminole since Cheyna Williams tallied both goals in a 2-0 win over Stanford in the semifinals of the 2014 College Cup.

 

“Getting the first goal gave me confidence and showed that I’m well able to score here,” said Connolly. “We’re not going to win a national championship with only three or four people, the whole team is important. Everyone has realized that and we are working so well together. I think this team is only going to get better.”

 

A penalty kick goal by Isabella Schmid in the 70th minute capped the scoring in FSU’s 4-0 victory over the Knights. Nineteen FSU players saw action on the pitch in Thursday’s game, including redshirt freshman Caroline Brockmeier making her second appearance as a goalkeeper this season.

 

The Noles will end their homestand on Sunday, September 13 with a match against Grand Canyon, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Admission is free for all FSU home games at the Seminole Soccer Complex. Live stats will also be available on Seminoles.com.

 

Follow Florida State soccer on Twitter (@FSU_Soccer) and like our Facebook page (Facebook.com/FSUSoccer) to keep up to date with everything about Seminole soccer.