virginia tech handed first home loss by no. 1 fsu

Nick Cheshire

Staff Writer

October 15, 2021

BLACKSBURG — A red-hot team spoiled an unusually warm October afternoon at Thompson Field, when No. 1 Florida State beat Virginia Tech 2-0, reasserting itself not only as the best team in the ACC, but as the best in the nation.

“They make you chase, their movement off the ball is unreal,” forward Emily Gray said. “I thought we handled them pretty well, they’ve been destroying teams, and I didn't feel like they destroyed us tonight, I feel like we were in the game the whole time.”

The Hokies (8-5-2, 2-3-2 ACC) were handed their first home loss of the year at the hands of the Seminoles (14-0, 7-0 ACC), who remain undefeated and pick up three crucial points heading into the final weeks of the regular season.

Seminoles’ forward Beata Olsson broke the scoreless tie in the 31st minute off an outstanding pass from forward Yujie Zhao, but the Hokies regrouped and limited the damage, maintaining a manageable 1-0 deficit heading into the break.

“We really tried to stick to the game plan pretty well in the first half,” head coach Chugger Adair said. “We did a pretty good job of trying to contain some of their special players and create for ourselves going forward.”

The Hokies were unable to capitalize on their few chances, including an early opportunity in the ninth minute, a pass from Tori Powell that found Nicole Kozlova streaking into the box, whose shot just glanced off the fingertips of FSU goalkeeper Mia Justus.

“When you get into high-level games like this, you don’t get 20 shots,” Adair said. “When you get those chances, you have to take them to win the game.”

The Seminoles added their second tally in the 70th minute on a laser beam from Jaelin Howell, a terrific shot that soared into the upper right corner untouched, out of the reach of goalkeeper Alia Skinner.

The loss marks the Hokies’ third straight, an unfortunate time for a losing streak with only three games remaining in the regular season and the ACC Tournament approaching fast.

“We’re back at it Monday to try to get after Miami,” Adair said. “They’re much improved, they’re better, and we’ve got to make sure that we bring out A-game to get results, and nine points.”

The Hokies close out the year with Miami and Boston College at Thompson Field, followed by Syracuse, in New York.

“Win out, it’s just our mentality,” Gray said. “We want to get to a certain point, and to get there, we have to win these last three games.”