TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — South Alabama soccer held No. 2 Florida State scoreless for more than 44 minutes Friday before the Seminoles scored late in the first half and went on to a 5-0 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The loss ended South Alabama’s season at 19-3-1 and snapped an 18-match unbeaten streak that dated to Aug. 31.
Late First-Half Breakthrough
The Jaguars kept Florida State off the scoreboard for the first 44 minutes. With 38 seconds remaining in the half, the Seminoles scored on a header after an inswinging cross from the byline.
Florida State added four goals after halftime. The first came on a header seven minutes into the second half, and another followed 11 minutes later. The Seminoles scored on a header in the 73rd minute and added their final goal six minutes after that.
Five different players scored for Florida State, which outshot South Alabama 23-2 and held an 11-0 advantage in corner kicks. Seminoles goalkeeper Cassie Miller made one save.
A Rematch of 2013
The result matched the score of last season’s NCAA first-round meeting between the teams in Tallahassee. South Alabama head coach Graham Winkworth said the Jaguars changed their approach this time, playing a more defensive system.
“First of all, I want to congratulate Florida State,” Winkworth said. “I think they’re one of the, if not the most well-coached and organized teams in the country, with potentially the most talent in the country as well. So congratulations to Coach (Mark) Krikorian and all the girls and staff, because they are a phenomenal squad. But I could not be more proud of my team.”
“I know the scoreboard says the same thing as last year, but I think the game was a little different and I think at halftime Coach (Krikorian) would admit that he was in a game, and it was a game,” Winkworth said. “For 44 ½ minutes, we held them, maybe the best team in the country, so I could not be more proud of the team.”
“We changed our system,” he said. “Last year, we came here playing our regular formation and there were too many holes, they ripped us apart with the quality of passing they’ve got. This year, we adjusted. We played a little bit more defensively-minded, or a lot more defensively-minded, and defended like heroes for the first 44 minutes.”
“I thought that the girls fought like warriors and were fantastic,” Winkworth said. “You know, the second half we were getting a little bit tired, and watched a lot of passes go around us. But to be fair, it was a different game to last year. We will have plenty of opportunities to play against quality teams like Florida State again in the future, because I know we hope to schedule them in our regular season down the road.”
A Championship Season
South Alabama won the Sun Belt regular-season title with an 8-0-1 conference record and claimed the Sun Belt Tournament championship for the second consecutive season, earning a second straight NCAA Tournament berth.
The match was the final one for South Alabama seniors Emi Passini and Shawn Meach.
