Berglind Thorvaldsdottir leads Florida State with nine goals.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Second-ranked Florida State (11-1-0, 4-0-0 ACC) scored three second-half goals, including two from sophomore Berglind Thorvaldsdottir, as the Seminoles beat Miami (Fla.) on Saturday evening inside Cobb Stadium.
“Our kids played pretty well for the most part,” Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian said. “I thought we were a little bit unlucky not to score in the first half. We didn’t give up a whole lot of chances [Saturday night] but we have to be a little better in front of the goal. Overall, to come down to Miami and win a game 3-0 is a very good road trip for us.”
After neither team found the back of the net through the first 45 minutes of play, Florida State broke the game open with three goals in the second half, including two exactly two minutes apart as the Seminoles secured their 14th win in the past 15 meetings against Miami (2-9-1, 0-3-1 ACC).
Isabella Schmid broke the scoreless draw in the 66th minute, converting a free kick from about 22 yards out. Following a Miami foul deep in FSU’s attacking third, Schmid took the free kick and sent a bending shot into the upper-left corner for her second goal of the season. Jamia Fields created the scoring chance as she was taken down from behind.
“It was a great free kick,” Krikorian said. “We were knocking on the door for a little while in the second half and sometimes it takes a special moment like that one from Bella. She scored it up and over the wall and into the corner. After that the game came a little easier for us; good possession, good movement, a couple of nice slip balls in and two nice finishes by Berglind.”
Thorvaldsdottir then broke the game open with two goals for her third multi-goal game of the season.
The Icelandic duo gave the Seminoles a two-goal advantage in the 68th minute when Dagny Brynjarsdottir slipped a pass to Thorvaldsdottir running down the left side of the pitch. With Miami keeper Emily Lillard converging on the play, Thorvaldsdottir made a nice move to evade the keeper before putting away a low liner for her first goal of the evening.
The Seminoles put the game out of reach in the 83rd minute when Thorvaldsdottir struck again, this time off a double assist from Brynjarsdottir and Carson Pickett. Once again, Thorvaldsdottir used some fancy footwork to get around the Miami keeper before finishing off the play with her second goal and team-leading ninth of the season.
The two assists from Brynjarsdottir were her first two of the season and her third career multi-assist game. Pickett added to her team-leading assist as she notched her 10th of the season.
The Seminole defense was once again up for the challenge as Kristin Grubka, Megan Campbell, Kirsten Crowley and Emma Koivisto limited Miami to just three shots in 90 minutes of action with zero shots going on goal.
Redshirt freshman keeper Cassie Miller played the entire match between the posts to earn her eighth shutout of the season.
“Overall, our defending has been pretty good,” Krikorian said. “Most importantly, we are limiting chances at our goal. I thought we were very strong in our defending throughout [Saturday night's] game.”
Florida State is off to a 4-0-0 start in the ACC for the third time in school history and has now outscored its league opponents 12-0 through the first four matches to open the 2014 campaign.
Florida State finished the match outshooting Miami 22-3, while the Seminoles also held the advantage in corner kicks at 10-5.
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