Florida State Blanks Auburn 3-0
Sophomores Sanna Talonen and Amanda DaCosta provide the goal scoring for the Seminoles in the win.

9/13/08

Auburn, Ala. – Seventh-ranked Florida State (5-1-0) extended its win steak to seven over Auburn (2-4-1) with a 3-0 shutout on Friday night in game two of the Auburn Soccer Classic. The Seminoles registered two goals from Sanna Talonen and one from Amanda DaCosta to improve their road record to 3-0-0 on the season.

The Seminoles rebounded nicely following last weekend’s loss to Florida posting its second road shutout of the yeear. FSU has now outscored the opposition 10-1 away from Tallahassee this year.

“It was a solid performance,” said head coach Mark Krikorian. “I thought that early we developed a nice rhythm, a nice tempo in the game. We had pretty good control, particularly in the first 30 minutes of the first half.

“I thought Auburn did a very good job of coming back into the game and taking over part of it,” added Krikorian. “We scored three goals against a very good team that is going to win a lot of games this year. Overall, it was a good performance for us. It’s always satisfying to go on the road and find a way to get results. After our game with Florida the other day, when we had good looks and couldn’t put the ball in the net, it’s nice to come back and score three tonight.”

Seminole keeper Kate Milstead had a tremendous outing between the posts to pick up her second career shutout. The junior from Clarksburg, N.J., finished the game with four saves but made three outstanding stops during the 90 minutes of action to help preserve the shutout. With the win, Milstead improved to 5-1-0 on the year.

“For a keeper, you just have to be ready for what ever comes your way,” explained Milstead. “The number of saves doesn’t matter, but when you come up big it matters and that’s what happened tonight. I’m just happy that it was only three. The team played well tonight. It is also a credit to my defenders that they kept it out as well.”

Talonen once again came up big on the road scoring the first two goals for the Seminoles on Friday night. The Finnish native broke a scoreless tie in the 23rd minute and then solidified the victory for Florida State with her second goal in the 66th minute.

The two-goal performance was her seven multi-goal game of her career becoming the Florida State all-time leader in that category. Talonen also moved into a tie for fourth all-time as she notched her eighth career game-winner.

All four goals by Talonen in 2008 have come on the road as she now has 22 for her career.

“It was a relief to get that first goal,” explained Talonen. “It was a perfect pass from AD (Amanda DaCosta) inside the box and I just needed to finish. On the second goal, it was just a perfect corner from Switzer. That was where we wanted the ball and I was able to get a header on it for the score.”

Lauren Switzer assisted on a pair of goals as she matched her career point total in the win over the Tigers. The junior midfielder now has a team-high 11 points and five assists in 2008. In her freshman season at UCLA, Switzer tallied six points on a goal and four assists. After transferring to Florida State in the spring of 2007, Switzer followed with two goals and assist in her first season with the Garnet and Gold.

Auburn registered back-to-back corners in the early going but it was to no avail as the Seminoles thwarted away both opportunities. The two corners were the first allowed by Florida State since game three of the season against Connecticut, a span covering 196:55.

A foul by the Tigers in the 11th minute set up a free kick opportunity for the Seminoles from about 40 yards out. Junior Becky Edwards took the kick firing a shot on goal, but it was easily handled by Auburn keeper Allison Whitworth.

Tori Huster got a good look on goal from just inside the goal box in the 15th minute. The freshman midfielder fired a shot with her left foot off the back side of a Tiger defender, but Auburn was able to clear the ball and keep the game scoreless.

Just over three minutes later, Switzer got in behind the Auburn defense sending a cross into the box. Whitworth made a diving stab at the ball but was unable to control it. DaCosta came sliding in for the rebound redirecting the ball towards the left post. The ball looked as though it would find the back of the net but the Tigers’ Jenn Johnson came swooping in with a nice foot save.

Florida State registered the first goal of the game as Talonen went five-hole to give the Seminoles a 1-0 advantage. DaCosta assisted on the play as she split the middle defenders and found Talonen streaking from the right. With Whitworth charging, the Finnish native juked to her right and found an open space right between the keeper’s legs for her third goal of the year.

Milstead kept the Seminole lead intact with a nice diving save in the 30th minute. Kara Kasten got in behind the Seminole defense off a cross and one-timed a shot but Milstead was there for the save.

Moments later DaCosta registered her third shot of the half placing a header on goal off a throw-in by Jessica Price.

Auburn picked up its offensive attack late in the first half with four shots in the final 14 minutes. The first three shots were blocked by the Seminole defense, while the fourth shot by Kasten was saved by Milstead. The junior keeper made a first class save coming out on the ball and making a tremendous stop with her foot as the ball caromed out of the zone.

The two teams went into the locker room tied in both shots (7-7) and corner kicks (3-3). Whitworth tallied four saves with Milstead recording three.

FSU widen its lead in the 66th minute off the first corner kick for the Seminoles in the second half. After just coming into the game off a substitution, Switzer took the corner and placed a beautiful ball into the box where Talonen came charging in with a header for her second goal of the evening.

Auburn looked to cut into the lead in the 69th minute but Milstead came up with another tremendous save. On a questionable foul call on the Seminoles, the Tigers were awarded a free kick from about 23 yards out. Kasten sent a low liner to the far post but it was Milstead who made a diving save to keep Auburn off the scoreboard.

The Seminoles increased their lead to 3-0 in the 72nd minute on a goal by DaCosta. Tiffany McCarty started the play as she sent a shot off the crossbar. Switzer kept the play alive tracking the ball down on the end line. She passed back out to McCarty who found DaCosta streaking toward the top of the goal box. DaCosta took a few dribbles to her left and struck a hard shot into the upper left corner for her third goal of the season. McCarty and Switzer were credited with assists on the play.

The Tigers had another great look off a corner but a header by Mary Nicholson went wide right of the net.

The Seminoles out shot the Tigers 15-13 for the game, while Auburn held the advantage on corner kicks (6-5).

Florida State will remain in Auburn and face its third SEC opponent of the season when they play unbeaten South Carolina (5-0-1) on Sunday at 12 noon EST. Fans can keep up-to-date with all the action as gametracker will be available for the Seminoles final game of the Auburn Soccer Complex.