TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A hard-fought battle between two top-10 teams needed all 90 minutes to decide a winner at the Seminole Soccer Complex on Sunday afternoon as No. 2 Florida State earned a 2-1 victory against No. 9 Virginia Tech on a header from Dagny Brynjarsdottir in the 87th minute.
“Heck of a battle,” FSU head coach Mark Krikorian said. “Two top-10 teams slugging it out in a good, hard, physical game. A lot of action and we are thrilled to come out with a victory. Certainly a hard-fought victory and well-earned as well.”
Senior Marta Bakowska-Mathews opened the scoring in the 82nd minute, putting away a nice drop pass from Brynjarsdottir at the top of the box curling the ball inside the right post to give FSU a 1-0 lead. The goal was her eighth of the season, matching her single-season career-high from 2013.
“I saw Dagny making a slashing run across the box and there was no one around me,” Bakowska-Mathews said. “Even though she wasn’t facing me, I was lucky that she heard me and passed me the ball back. Jamia was swinging out wide but I saw that I could bend it, so I was like, ‘I’ll bend it far post.’”
Virginia Tech answered right back 32 seconds later on a free kick from 19 yards by Kallie Peurifoy. The free kick came after a foul was called on Kristin Grubka which resulted in a yellow card just outside the 18-yard box.
The goal by the Hokies snapped FSU’s scoreless minute streak at 589 minutes -- the third-longest streak in school history. It also marked the first goal allowed by the Seminoles in ACC play this year.
Final Score Graphic as No. 2 @FSU_Soccer defeats No. 9 @VT_WSoccer. #Noles remain perfect in the ACC (6-0-0) pic.twitter.com/6Bkb8hdZCK
— FSU Soccer (@FSU_Soccer) October 12, 2014
Florida State took the lead for good off a throw-in from Megan Campbell in the 87th minute that found the head of Brynjarsdottir inside the six-yard box. The Iceland native put the ball away for her eighth goal of the season and the fourth in her last four games against the Hokies.
The second half saw more action on both sides of the pitch, with 20 total shots, 12 total fouls and three yellow cards – VT’s Ashley Meier (53’) and FSU’s Jamia Fields (76’) and Grubka (82’).
The win was Florida State’s ninth in a row and ninth consecutive against Virginia Tech. FSU improved to 15-0-1 all-time against the Hokies.
