No. 7 Florida State (4-0-1) defeated Florida Atlantic (2-5-1) by a 5-0 score this afternoon in Boca Raton, FL.
Florida State got off to a great start to say the least. In the first minute Sophia Nguyen played the ball forward for Jordynn Dudley in the attacking third. Dudley caught up to the ball at the edge of the box and knocked it into the six. FAU keeper Ashley Small kicked it away but her clearance was deflected by Wrianna Hudson. Enasia Colon jumped on the ball in the box and one-timed a blast
past Small for the first goal of the game. It was Colon’s first goal in Garnet and Gold.
The Seminoles were not satisfied with that goal. In the second minute FSU earned a corner kick. Lara Dantas stepped up to take it. Dantas sent a dangerous ball to the edge of the six. There was heavy traffic in front of the goal but Heather Gilchrist managed to knock the ball past Small for the quick second goal.
In the 61st minute Peyton Nourse played the ball out wide for Kameron Simmonds on the right flank. Simmonds took a touch before deftly tucking the ball inside the left post for the third Seminole goal. This was a classy finish by Simmonds to earn her first goal of the season.
In the 72nd minute the Noles widened the lead. Sydney Neira sent a backpass to new keeper Megan Hogate. The pass was not crisp enough and Hudson was able to steal it. She knocked the ball past Hogate for the fourth goal.
In the 76th minute Mimi Van Zanten played the ball into the box for Hudson. Neira and Hudson battled for the ball and Hudson was taken down in the box. Hudson was awarded the penalty kick. Hudson calmly slotted the ball past Hogate into the right corner of the goal for the fifth score of the game.
In the 77th minute Hudson almost secured a hat trick. Janet Okeke tracked down a loose ball in the box. She sent the ball over to Hudson who whiffed on her first shot attempt. However, Hudson managed to get off a second shot which ricocheted off the crossbar. Nguyen headed the rebound toward the goal but Hogarth was there for the save.
With 11 minutes and one second left the game was suspended due to lightning in the area. Florida State walked away with the 5-0 victory.
Post Game
Florida State had 24 shots (13 on goal) while Florida Atlantic had one shot that was on goal.
With all due respect to Florida Atlantic, the Owls are simply not on FSU’s level. FAU had one shot on goal but outside of that they were not able to generate much (or any) other opportunities. Florida State didn’t really face any meaningful pressure in this game. The Noles beat the Owls handily and that is what a superior team should do when playing an inferior team. However, this game doesn’t tell us much about how FSU will fare when facing ACC competition.
This was the last non-conference game of the regular season. It remains tough to evaluate this team properly due to the weakness of the schedule. FSU has played Florida (54th in the Massey ratings), FIU (106th), Kansas (26th), Stetson (272nd) and FAU (192nd). This is not exactly a murderer’s row. Massey ranks the schedule at 89th in the nation and that ranking will drop when FAU is counted.
The schedule will get (a lot) tougher. Massey’s top five is 1. Duke, 2. Stanford, 3. Notre Dame, 4. FSU and 5. Virginia. The Noles play all of those teams except for Duke. They also play North Carolina.
My view of this team hasn’t changed. Florida State is a very talented team. The questions surrounding this team have nothing to do with talent. They have to figure out how the talent fits together. Another question is whether the team will be prepared for the increase in difficulty of the ACC schedule given the softness of the non-conference schedule.
Based on the track record of the program I wouldn’t bet against this team but aside from the Kansas game we just haven’t seen them have to deal with any adversity.
How they deal with that adversity will tell the tale of the season.
Next Game
Florida State will begin ACC play by welcoming Louisville to the Seminole Soccer Complex on Thursday. The game will kickoff at 7pm and will be broadcast on the ACC Network Extra.
