CARY, NC. – Fourth seeded Florida State made a quick exit, falling in the first round of the ACC Tournament to fifth seeded Wake Forest 3-1. The Seminoles kept the game tight for the majority of the match, closing the lead to one goal during 52nd minute, but the Demon Deacons would eventually pull away during the 60th minute of the game when they extended their lead to 3-1.


“I thought our kids went out and competed very well,” said head coach Mark Krikiorian. “The players followed the game plan, worked hard, gave us a chance to win, but on the day Wake Forest was better and were able to defeat us three to one.”


All eleven of the Seminole starters played the entire 90 minutes of action. Freshman Lindsay Rice and Niki Mercier led the Seminole attack with two shots each. Junior Kataya Gohkman scored her first career goal for the Seminoles during the 52nd minute to close Wake Forest’s lead to 2-1. Sophomore Breezy Hupp and junior Ella Stephan were both credited with the assist.


“It was started from a long kick by Breezy Hupp,” said Krikorian. “Ella Stephan went up for it and competed well. Kataya followed it and knocked it by the goal keeper and into the net.”


Freshman goalkeeper Madison Winter made her first career start in goal. Winter finished the game with her first career save.

Overall Wake Forest slightly out-shot Florida State nine to seven, and the teams finished tied on corner kicks with four apiece. Florida State once again played smart soccer, committing only five fouls to Wake Forest ten infractions.


The Seminoles had previously defeated Wake Forest at home earlier this season when senior Rachel Lim scored a golden goal to break up a 0-0 tie in the 95th minute of overtime off an assist by fellow senior Janice Cayman.


The match marked the fifth time Florida State and Wake Forest had squared off at the ACC Tournament, as the Seminoles had gone 2-0-2 prior to today’s match. The Seminoles all-time record dips to 8-10-3 against the Demon Deacons. The defeat was Krikorian's third loss against Wake Forest, as his Seminoles have gone an outstanding 5-3-1 against the Demon Deacons during his tenure.


“I thought overall it was a good solid game, and a solid performance,” said Krikorian. “CC Cobb was quite good dictating play, and from top to bottom I thought it was a good performance by our group.”


Florida State will now wait to discover their future from the NCAA selection show which occurs on Monday, November 8th at 4:30pm and aired by ESPNU.

As always, fans can also follow Seminole Soccer action all season long on gametracker, Twitter and Facebook.