The Daily Nole

Florida State Beats North Carolina 3-2; Wins ACC Championship

Larry Novey

Florida State Seminoles soccer defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 3-2 on Sunday afternoon to claim their sixth conference championship in program history.

No. 7 Florida State were considered slight underdogs heading into the ACC Championship against No. 3 North Carolina. The Tar Heels won the regular season matchup 1-0 after stifling the Florida State offense for the entire game.

The situation was reversed on Sunday. The Seminoles came out hot in the first half, launching eight shots towards the goal, compared to North Carolina’s three. It was considerably more successful too: the Seminoles struck first when Dallas Dorosy took advantage of a beautiful pass by Jaelin Howell in the 35th minute.

It did not take long for Dorosy to notch her second goal. Five minutes later, Olivia Bergau made an effort play in the box and got the ball away from two North Carolina defenders, allowing Dorosy to put it in the back of the net for a 2-0 lead.

The momentum began shifting in the second half. FSU goalkeeper Brooke Bollinger went down with an apparent wrist injury in the 62nd minute and had to taken off the field. Backup Caroline Jeffers entered the contest and immediately surrendered a goal one minute later.

North Carolina knotted the score 2-2 in the 72nd minute after another goal allowed. FSU promptly made changes and brought in Anna Patten and Yujie Zhao in for Deyna Castellanos and Gloriana Villalobos.

Those expecting a thrilling end to the game were not disappointed. In the 83rd minute of the game, Kristina Lynch received a cross from Dorosy near the goal and shot it in for the go-ahead goal. After a close save in the final minutes of the contest, Florida State held on for a 3-2 victory.

The final stats came out almost identical. Both teams launched 10 shots, each recorded two saves, and Florida State held a slim 9-8 lead in fouls. Dorosy’s strongest game of the season just so happened to be against the best opponent with high stakes.

For Florida State, the championship trophy marks a dramatic turnaround from the end of the regular season. The Seminoles had disappointing results that included a tie against NC State and a loss against Miami in two of the final four games. After getting paired with Duke for the first round of the ACC tournament, many assumed that the Seminoles would be bounced early.

Instead, they defeated the Blue Devils and came from behind to beat the Virginia Cavaliers five days later. It all culminated in their dramatic victory on Sunday afternoon.

The Seminoles will now await their seeding for the NCAA tournament. Most expect them to be named a 1 or 2 seed.

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