No. 5 Tigers Fall to No. 3 Florida State on the Road

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. – The fifth-ranked Clemson women’s soccer team lost its first game of the season and first in the ACC in 2015 to third-ranked Florida State in Tallahassee by a final score of 3-1. The Tigers fell to 7-1-1 (1-1-0 ACC) with the loss, while the Seminoles improved to 8-1-1 (1-0-1 ACC).

Florida State scored a goal in the second minute of the game and then found the back of the net again in the 47^th minute and finally in the 68^th minute on a penalty kick. The lone goal for the Tigers was scored when junior defender Emily Byorth crossed a ball into the box and it bounced off of a Seminole player to find the back of the net.

Junior goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan had three saves on the night. Katie Sprouse, Shannon Horgan, Samantha Staab and Jenna Weston each took one shot for the Tigers.

Clemson travels to Miami for a match on Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1 p.m. before returning home for a match against Wake Forest on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the Historic Riggs Field 100^th Anniversary celebration.

Head Coach Eddie Radwanski’s comments after the game:

“I thought it was a really good game tonight. It was fun to play the defending national champions on their home field. I am proud of how our kids competed until the final whistle and thought the chances we created were quality. But, if you are going to play the defending national champions on their home field, the one thing you can’t do is concede goals in the opening minutes of the half and we did it twice. I credit Florida State for taking advantage, but we have to be better than that. It is something we as a team have to fix and it starts with me correcting it and I will work on that.

“I thought we had a great response when we fell behind and showed that once we settled down and started connecting passes we were able to create more chances especially around the goal, which is where the goal came from. In the second half, we came out and dug ourselves even more of a hole, and you just can’t do that against a team at this level. Again, it was a good lesson and I was proud of how our kids competed. Now we have to regroup and prepare ourselves for a big game at Miami on Sunday.”