College Cup Bound
The Seminole return to the College Cup for the fifth time in school history and their first since 2007.

11/25/2011

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) – Florida State is headed back to the College Cup! The Seminoles (18-6-1) became the first team to earn a spot in the national semifinals with a 3-0 victory over Virginia (17-5-2) Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament at the Seminole Soccer Complex.

FSU will now make the 300-mile trek north to Kennesaw, Ga., site of the 2011 Women’s College Cup, where they will face the winner of Stanford/Oklahoma State on Friday, December 2. The Seminoles return to the College Cup for the fifth time in school history and for the first time since 2007 when the Garnet & Gold played Southern California for the national championship.

After defeating Virginia earlier this month for the first time in school history in the ACC Tournament semifinals, Florida State added to its list of firsts in the series by beating the Cavaliers for the first time in Tallahassee.

FSU snapped UVa’s eight-game (0-6-2) unbeaten streak inside the Seminole Soccer Complex, while it marked the first goals scored by Florida State at home against Virginia since 2002. In the three games against UVa this year, FSU outscored Virginia 8-5. The Cavaliers gave up just 11 goals in the other 21 games this year.

With the win, the Seminoles moved to 23-1-0 at home all-time in NCAA Tournament action, while improving their current unbeaten streak to a season-best 10 games (9-0-1).

Florida State registered goals from three different players on Friday as Ines Jaurena, Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Tiffany McCarty all found the back of the net against the Cavaliers

The Seminoles recovered from a shaky first 10 minutes to record their 12th shutout of the season and tie a school record with their third shutout of the postseason. FSU keeper Kelsey Wys made six saves in 90 minutes of action including two in the first six minutes to keep the Cavaliers off the scoreboard.

UVa’s Danielle Colaprico had the game’s first scoring chance as she got in behind the Seminole defense following a great pass inside the 18-yard box in the second minute of play. Colaprico tried to sneak a low lining shot past Wys, but the Seminole goalkeeper made a nice diving kick save to keep game scoreless. The Cavaliers were back at it again in the sixth minute as Morgan Brian put a shot on goal but once again Wys was there for the save.

Tori Huster recorded Florida State’s first shot of the game in the 14th minute as she blasted a shot off the crossbar from about 35 yards out. Less than two minutes later, Chantel Jones made a nice kick save on a shot from Janice Cayman to keep the game scoreless.

Huster was back at it again in the 19th minute forcing Jones into a diving save on the left post. The senior midfielder one-timed a pass from McCarty across the box but Jones got just enough of her finger tips on the shot to keep the ball out of the net and forcing it out of bounds.

Jaurena broke the scoreless tie in the first half converting on a penalty kick opportunity in the 35th minute after McCarty was fouled from behind down near the end line.

The Seminoles added to their lead in the second half on Brynjarsdottir’s fifth goal of the season and second of the NCAA Tournament. Off a Florida State corner, the ball found its way to the body of freshman Kristin Grubka, who settled it nicely right to the feet of Brynjarsdottir. The Icelandic native one-timed the shot inside the left post to give FSU a 2-0 lead.

McCarty sealed the victory in the 76th minute with her team leading 18th goal of the season to give the Seminoles a commanding 3-0 lead. The junior forward scored on a long break away dribbling a good distance before making a nice move to her right and drilling the ball inside the upper right corner of the net.

Virginia finished the game out shooting Florida State 15-13. Huster and McCarty led the Noles with three shots each, while Colaprico led UVa with four shots.