No. 3 FSU earns draw at No. 1 UNC on Van Zanten's last-second goal in women's soccer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Mimi Van Zanten scored on the last kick of the game as the third-ranked Florida State soccer team (7-0-1) played first-ranked North Carolina (7-0-4) to a thrilling 3-3 draw on Sunday afternoon at Dorrance Field. The two teams faced three times last season with UNC taking two of the three meetings but Florida State winning the ACC Championship for a third straight season.
The two have been the standard in collegiate soccer and their annual matchup is always one of the biggest games of the year.
North Carolina began with the upper hand in the attack, registering several shots early in the game including a dangerous free kick which goalkeeper Cristina Roque handled well.
Leilanni Nesbeth had no goal contributions up to this point in the season but came up huge as she stole possession off the Tar Heels, sprinted through the midfield, and laid in a well-timed through ball to Jordynn Dudley. The freshman drove into the center of the box and unleashed a shot to the near post to give the Seminoles the early lead against the run of play.
FSU nearly doubled their lead after Taylor Huff's whipping free kick was fired just over the crossbar. North Carolina was given a chance to tie the game with a penalty shot, but Maycee Bell skied the ball over the frame and left a goal on the table. They didn't have to wait long to try again as Ally Sentnor equalized just before halftime to go into the break at one apiece.
The Tar Heels were creating the better chances coming out of the break as they forced Roque into another quality save early on. Florida State was able to pull ahead off a corner kick as Huff's cross was met by the high-flying freshman Dudley who buried the ball into the net and regained the lead with 30 minutes to go. She secured her second collegiate brace in only her eighth career game.
With fifteen minutes to go North Carolina drew the game at 2-2 off a deflected ball before a cross to Kate Faasse allowed her to slot another goal away and UNC had their first lead of the day with five minutes to go.
Florida State went into full attack and with ten seconds to go Huff's corner kick was parried by the UNC keeper and fell to freshman Mimi Van Zanten who launched the ball into the back of the net to level the game at 3-3 with two seconds remaining, her first collegiate goal.
Florida State will return home after three straight road matches for a Friday evening battle with Miami.
First kick is set for 7 p.m. and is available to stream on ACC Network Extra.
FSU volleyball beats Wake Forest
Florida State Volleyball played one of its most complete matches of the season on Sunday, sweeping a talented Wake Forest team, 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 25-12), at Reynolds Gym in Winston-Salem, N.C.
The Seminoles (8-6, 2-0) earned their seventh sweep of the season as they hit .371 in the match, sparked by emphatic second and third sets where they pulled away early from the Demon Deacons (10-3, 1-1). Junior middle blocker Kiari Robey closed out her outstanding weekend with 10 kills in 14 swings for a .571 hitting percentage and six blocks.
Junior outside hitter Audrey Koenig was equally as efficient, getting 10 kills, hitting .375 and adding six blocks of her own. For the second straight match, FSU produced double-digit block totals as it batted away 10 on Sunday after recording a season-high 15 in Friday’s win at Virginia Tech.
The Seminoles had a strong serve-receive performance, getting 13 digs from graduate setter Jelli Draskovic who also had 16 assists for a double-double. Freshman setter Kenna Phelan added 17 assists in the win.
Junior middle blocker Khori Louis added six kills and four blocks, while junior right-side Skye Ekes had five kills of her own. Ekes ended the match with a cross-court kill in the third set.
FSU played one of its best sets of the season in set two, hitting .406 and winning convincingly at 25-18. A kill by Louis midway through the set gave FSU a commanding 16-7 lead, and it used another 5-0 run to go up 21-9 in a stretch that was punctuated by a block from Koenig and Robey. The set ended on a kill from Louis to put FSU up 2-0 in the match.
FSU would finish the sweep with a dominant third set.
Florida State returns home to Tully Gym for a two-match swing beginning this Friday vs. North Carolina at 6:30 p.m. The Seminoles then wrap up the home weekend hosting Duke at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Van Zanten’s last-second goal helps No. 3 FSU earn draw at No. 1 UNC
