The Rundown: Hokies' shock the nation in 3-2 comeback win over No.6 Florida State
Blacksburg, VA—On Sunday evening, leaving a packed Thompson Field, fans could say something that had never been told: "The Hokies beat Florida State."
By no means was Sunday a staple Tech performance. The possession-based playstyle that made the game look so easy, at times, for the Hokies was out to a standstill. Actually, both teams struggled heavily to find a stable footing on the day, with just one more shot (6) than yellow cards in the first period (5).
Yet, with each first-half foul, you could hear the intensity notch up; there was a bit more aggressiveness, players getting a bit more reckless, leaving the fans to get a bit more rowdy in their noise, slowly picking up in tempo as each tackle slid in.
The Hokies sat up in a defensive shape with an emphasis on counter-attacking and winning the ball high, allowing their front three to get into multiple 3v3 situations; however, thanks to the Noles' structurally sound backline, they were quick to snuff out any Tech chance, leaving the Hokies growing frustrated.
Just four minutes into the second half, FSU was awarded an escape from their attacking woes, as the Tech backline just nibbled at the foot of a retrieving Nole in the box, leading to a Jordynn Dudley penalty goal.
This could have sucked the momentum out of the night, and it looked as if it would; as what little momentum there was for the Hokies began to tick away, and it looked as if the No. 6 team in the nation was going to march to victory.
Those tensions were amplified even more when a delicate Lara Dantas touch lofted the ball to her left foot, allowing her to rocket a 67th-minute effort by Tech goaltender Lauren Hargrove to double the FSU lead.
With just over 20 minutes to play, the night looked gift-wrapped for Florida State to take home an impressive win over a Tech squad coming off a draw to Miami last week, and for the longest time, Tech struggled to create chances, hardly creating impressive looks on goal and quickly looked like they were running out of ideas on an already stifled night of creativity.
It is an adage that the most dangerous lead in soccer is by two goals. It's with two goals that a false sense of security may set in, and that looked to be the case.
With 11 minutes to play, an Anna Weir lob to Taylor Price, who poked a header across the face of goal, that found Sarah Rosenbaum, who headed the ball into the net, suddenly reinvigorated what looked like a drowsy Tech crowd.
Then, just seconds later, Natalie Mitchell looked to have tied the game with a volley off an exquisite leading header from Taylor Price to Mitchell, who sent the ball flying past a sprawling Addie Todd. Just like that, in barely 60 seconds, with breaths hardly being caught from the first Tech goal, things looked square at 2-2.
However, after a tedious video review, it was deemed Mitchell was offsides, ruling out her tying goal, leaving Tech down one with about 10 minutes until the final whistle.
While for many teams, this could have killed their momentum, "Chugger" Adair's side showed a resilience not often seen and instead forced the tying goal off a well-orchestrated set piece, allowing Eden Skyers to loft a ball into the box, which gave sophomore defender Kylie Marschall, just enough time to get under the cross and launch a header to Todd's right, finally knotting the game at two a piece, with six minutes to play.
The Hokies' momentum continued to storm on. With three minutes to play, another long ball opportunity gave Mitchell a cushioned header, which found an unmarked Price sprinting in on goal, whose near post shot gave Tech a sudden 3-2 lead.
"We kept pressing and got a little bit more direct than our play and, our ladies come together and they played well there. So it was nice."
Coach Adair flipped his ethos from a side looking to work the ball on counterattacks to a long-ball approach, leading headers to oncoming runners, ultimately granting the night's game-winning goal.
Up next for the Hokies is SMU this Thursday in what Adair, will hope will be a much calmer night.
