Syracuse falls to No. 2 Florida State, 2-0, on the road

Florida State recorded its first shot just 45 seconds into the game.

And the Seminoles didn’t stop. FSU outshot Syracuse 15-0 in the first half and 24-2 in total. Florida State’s goalie, Cassie Miller didn’t even touch the ball for the first 40 minutes of the game.

The Orange (5-6-3, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) allowed two goals in its futile first half performance, leading to a 2-0 loss against No. 2 Florida State (12-1, 5-0) on Thursday evening at Seminole Soccer Complex. SU played defense for most of the game and struggled maintaining possession.

In the 25th minute, FSU’s Marta Bakowska-Mathews passed the ball from the left sideline into the middle and Berglind Thorvaldsdottir headed the ball in from 4 yards out.

Ten minutes later, Bakowska-Mathews received a pass with her back to the goal, turned around and slipped the ball into the goal from inside the 18-yard box.

SU’s best chance to score came in the 51st minute when Alana O’Neill had a one-on-one opportunity against Miller. O’Neill beat her defender, but dribbled the ball right into Miller, who pressed forward to make the easy save.

Though Syracuse began to connect on more passes in the second half, FSU still had complete control of the game.

With about 20 minutes remaining in the second half, Syracuse had all 11 players within 50 yards of its own goal. The defensive shift in the Orange’s positioning reflected the Seminoles’ dominance.

In the loss, Syracuse goalie Courtney Brosnan made 11 saves.

In the 25th minute, a Florida State shot forced Brosnan to jump up and tip the ball above the crossbar. Her body landed on the ground and she allowed a corner kick, but she also preserved the scoreless game.

Brosnan made a similar kind of save in the 83rd minute. Though the ball was within reach, the game was not.

Syracuse’s next game is against No. 24 Clemson on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Riggs Field.

Compiled by Paul Schwedelson, staff writer, pmschwed@syr.edu.