Tech women upsets No. 5 Florida State in ACC quarterfinals

Three days after knocking off No. 11 Duke, the Virginia Tech women’s soccer team set its sights on an upset against No. 5 Florida State. The Hokies hung with the second-seeded Seminoles through regulation and two overtimes till Tech edged Florida State 4-2 in penalty kicks for the victory. Tech improves its record to 10-7-3 with the draw and advances to the ACC semifinals.

The Tech defense turned in arguably its best performance of the season in the first half, limiting a Seminole attack which averages 20.3 shots per game to just three attempts, one on goal, in the opening 45 minutes.

The first half, however, also saw the Hokie offense miss a couple opportunities to get on the board early. Less than a minute into the match, junior Emily Jukich narrowly missed giving Tech the lead as her header from inside the six yard box was deflected by a Florida State defender. Virginia Tech missed another opportunity in the 25th minute, when Robin Chidester’s close-range shot off a Julian Johnson throw-in sailed just high of the net.

Florida State had a narrow miss of its own in the 38th minute when Toni Pressley turned the corner past the Hokie defense, but starting keeper Kristin Carden made the save to keep the match scoreless.

A defensive battle in the first half resulted in a 0-0 tie heading into halftime. Tech edged Florida State 5-3 in shots for the first 45 minutes, while both teams had one shot on goal each.

Virginia Tech continued to pressure Florida State during the second half, and the Hokies had another close call turned back by the Seminole defense. Johnson broke free on the right side and fi red a shot to the far post that got past Seminole keeper Kate Milstead, but a Florida State defender kept the ball from going into the net.

The two teams would trade shots through the next 30 minutes. Florida State had another opportunity to take the lead, but Erika Sutton’s shot from inside the box ricocheted off the crossbar. Florida State stepped up the intensity on the Hokie defense, taking three shots in the next six minutes, but the match remained scoreless as regulation time wound down and Virginia Tech headed to overtime for the fourth time this season.

Minutes into overtime, a Jukich header resulted in a corner kick for the Hokies. The loose ball of the kick was directed towards the net but Florida State’s third team save of the night denied Tech the game-winner. The fi rst overtime came to a close with no change in score. The Hokies out shot the Seminoles 2-1 in the period.

The majority of the second overtime passed with little action, but at the 108:31mark, Florida State’s Marissa Kazbour drilled a shot from close range, but Carden denied the Seminole goal and with two overtime periods expired, the match came down to penalty kicks. Each team was allotted five penalty kicks. Stephanie Hylton shot first for Tech and put the ball past Kimmy Diaz.

Lauren Switzer retaliated for Florida State bringing the score to 1-1. Laurie Beth Puglisi, Kelly Lynch and Kim Hickey each converted for Tech and a save by Carden coupled with a Florida State shot off the post gave Virginia Tech the advantage 4-2 advantage.

With the victory, Tech moves on the semifinal round on Friday, November 7, taking on the winner of the Wake Forest/ Virginia contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30.