North Carolina
Florida State
Tar Heels Drop Heartbeaker In ACC Semifinals
November 7, 2015 | Women's Soccer
CARY, N.C. – Cheyna Williams scored her second goal of the game on a breakaway in the 66th minute to lift fourth-ranked Florida State to a 2-1 victory over eighth-ranked North Carolina in the semifinals of the 2015 ACC Soccer Tournament at WakeMed Soccer Park before 5,158 fans.
In an evenly played game in which both teams took 15 shots, it was Florida State which finished one more chance than the Tar Heels. Florida State, the tournament's No. 2 seed, improved to 14-2-3 on the season while the third-seeded Tar Heels fell to 14-4-1. Florida State has gone 6-0-1 against the Tar Heels over the past seven meetings between the two teams and each of those wins has come by a single goal.
“Obviously, I am disappointed in the result, but I wasn't disappointed in our performance,” UNC coach Anson Dorrance said. “The first time we played them down in Tallahassee (a 1-0 loss on October 11), I thought we could have been down 3-0 or 4-0 at halftime. This time, I thought we played a heck of a lot better.”
Williams opened the scoring for the Seminoles in the 23rd minute as she headed home a shot from 9 yards in the right side of the box after a brilliant passing combination by the Seminoles. Both Isabella Schmid and Natalia Kuikka assisted on the goal. Florida State finished the first half with a 6-5 edge in shots, putting all six of its shots on frame.
All night both teams peppered each other nets with good chances to score. The Tar Heels equalized in the 49th minute on Alexa Newfield's 10th goal of the season. After Cameron Castleberry was fouled 19 yards out, Newfield stepped up a powered a shot into the back of the net that deflected off the FSU wall.
Both teams continued to have chances before Florida State got the game winner after a turnover by the Tar Heels in the midfield. Natalia Kuikka pounced on the loose ball and fed a pass over the top of the defense to Williams who finished from 18 yards on the breakaway past UNC goalkeeper Lindsey Harris.
Both teams finished with 15 shots but the Seminoles put 11 of their 15 on frame while the Tar Heels had only four of 15 shots on target. Cassie Miller made three saves for FSU. Bryane Heaberlin played the first half for UNC and equaled her career high with five saves. She also had five saves versus UCLA in 2014. Lindsey Harris played the second half and had four saves, two short of her career high. The Tar Heels had six corner kicks to three for the Seminoles.
Florida State advances to play Virginia in the ACC championship game Sunday at 12 noon.
UNC will look to gain an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. Bids, seedings and pairings will be announced by the NCAA Monday afternoon.
