The Seminoles open ACC play with a win for the first time since 2004.

Sept. 24, 2009

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Fifth-ranked Florida State (8-1-0, 1-0-0 ACC) opened ACC play Thursday night with a 2-1 victory over No. 9 Maryland (8-1-0, 0-1-0 ACC) handing the Terps their first loss of the 2009 season.

Florida State remains perfect on the year against ranked opponents moving to 4-0-0 including three victories against teams ranked in the top 10.

The win extended the Seminoles' win streak to five straight over the Terrapins, while snapping a four-game losing streak in ACC openers. The last win for the Garnet and Gold to open league play came in 2004 at home in a 2-1 victory over Clemson.

"I'm proud of our kids," said head coach Mark Krikorian. "I thought they fought hard and found a way to win.

"As I said before the game, we expected to have a heck of a battle on our hands," Krikorian said. "Maryland is a much improved team and gave us all we could handle. I give a lot of credit to them. We scored and they came back and equalized, but we were able to respond and find the second one which proved to be the game winner."

All the scoring on Thursday night occurred in the first half as Florida State's Tiffany McCarty broke the scoreless tie in the 18th minute on her team leading eighth goal of the season. Off a Maryland goal kick, sophomore Casey Short won the ball advancing it behind the Terrapin defense and right to McCarty, who timed her run perfectly to advance the ball down field. After a couple dribbles down the middle of the pitch, the Laurel, Md., native snuck a low liner passed a diving Mary Casey and inside the right post for the goal.

"Shorty got up and won the ball," explained McCarty. "I ran on to it and placed it in the back of the net. It was a great solid effort from Casey."

The assist for Short was her first of the season as the Naperville, Ill., native made her first start of the year.

The lead was short lived as Maryland would find the equalizer over four minutes later. Jasmyne Spencer scored on a chip from just inside the box lofting a high shot beyond the out stretched arms of Seminole goalkeeper Erin McNulty, who charged out of the box looking to gain possession of the ball. The ball took one bounce inside the 6-yard box and into the net for the score tying the game at a goal a piece. Lydia Hastings was credited with an assist on the play, while the goal by Spencer was her team leading sixth of the season.

The goal by Maryland was the first allowed by the Seminoles in the first half of play this year.

The Seminoles would regain the lead in the 35th minute on a header by Marissa Kazbour off a set piece. Following a Terrapin foul at midfield, Becky Edwards sent a beautiful strike into the box where Kazbour timed her run perfectly from outside the right wing flicking a header into the upper left corner of the net to give FSU the one-goal advantage. The goal for Kazbour was her first of the season and second career game-winner.

"It was a set piece and Becky put the ball exactly where she needed to," Kazbour said. "It was all about timing and just to get a little flick on the ball to put it past the keeper."

The assist by Edwards was her fourth in 2009 and eighth career game-winning assist. Edwards now moves into a tie for fourth place all-time with Maren Vik Edvardsen (1998-01) and Jez Ratliff (2001-04) for career game-winning assists.

Florida State finished the game out shooting Maryland 13-7, while maintaining a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.

McNulty finished the game with two saves as she played all 90 minutes between the posts. In the process, McNulty earned career win number 26, moving her into a tie for second place all-time for career victories with Joy McKenzie (2001-04) and Melissa Juhl (1995-98).

"It felt really good to come out here and open ACC play with a win," added McCarty. "Maryland is a great team. It was a great win for us to start conference play."

Florida State returns to action on Sunday, September 27 at 1:00 p.m. as the Seminoles host No. 3 Boston College at the Seminole Soccer Complex. Following the game, fans are encouraged to stick around as the team will be signing autographs. The game will air live over the internet on Seminoles.com All-Access while live stats will be available via gametracker. Fans can also follow Seminole Soccer action all season long via Twitter and Facebook on Seminoles.com.