#1 Virginia Tech vs. #1 Florida State 2013 Women's College Cup Semifinal Game Breakdown
#1 Florida State vs. #1 Virginia Tech
This will be the third go around for the Seminoles and Hokies this season. The first match was in Blacksburg and Virginia Tech controlled the matchup everywhere except the scoreboard. The ACC Championship was the second meeting and Florida State had a little more of the play and outlasted the Hokies 1-0 to clinch the ACC Tournament Championship. The Seminoles have had minimal trouble in getting to the College Cup. They are in pretty strong form at the offensive end as they beat Boston College 4-0 in the quarterfinals slowing down a red hot Eagles attack. The defense has been solid all year long. Kelsey Wys has been very strong in goal with 15 shutouts in 26 matches and the Seminoles have only allowed 13 goals. Florida State in this third meeting with Virginia Tech is going to have to set the tone early and get the lead to the put the pressure on the Hokies to have to press in this College Cup semifinal setting. The Seminoles can’t afford to sit back and let Virginia Tech dictate the flow of the match and gain confidence as the match goes along. They also will need their leaders, Dagny Brynjarsdottir and Kasey Kallman, to be the star players that they are and create quality scoring chances and finish when the limited chances to score are available in this match.
The Hokies make their initial appearance in the Women’s College Cup thanks to a dominating 3-0 win over ACC rival Duke in the quarterfinals in Blacksburg. Virginia Tech is led by Jazmine Reeves and Murielle Tiernan’s 11 goals apiece as these two lead an attack that has had 13 different goal scorers this season. This run to the Final Four is definitely not a Cinderella story. The Virginia Tech program has been steadily building to this point under head coach Chugger Adair. The Hokies this season have pinned the only loss on Virginia in the ACC Semifinals 4-2 and have posted several tough wins over Notre Dame, Wake Forest and West Virginia, among many others, to give them a number one seed and propel them to the College Cup. The keys for Virginia Tech in this match are to not be intimidated by the stage of playing on national television and just play the patient, yet aggressive, style that has gotten them to this point. Also, they need to be able to finish quality chances when they get them against the Seminoles. The Hokies match up very well with Florida State and they just need to come out and play their style and take their chances. Overall, it’s very difficult to beat a team three times in a season, so I would not be surprised if Virginia Tech pulls the upset and knocks off the Seminoles.
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