No. 7 Florida State (3-0-1) defeated Stetson (3-3-0) by a 7-0 score tonight at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
Game Recap
The game started slow as it took the Seminoles more than 22 minutes to generate their first chance. The Noles were feeling their way into the game. Florida State was applying pressure in the first half but it wasn’t translating into dangerous chances early.
However, Yuna McCormack was able to break the ice in the 23rd minute on a right footed strike with an assist from Jordynn Dudley.
The second FSU goal came in short order as Marianyela Jimenez played a gorgeous ball over the Stetson defenders. Wrianna Hudson beat Hatter keeper Riley Tarvin to the ball. Hudson was able to touch the ball past Tarvin and then she had a wide open goal for the easy finish to put Florida State up 2-0.
The third goal came courtesy of more Dudley magic. The All-American took a feed from Jimenez and fired a blast from about 25 yards out that was perfectly placed in the upper left corner of the goal. As Brian Pensky noted after the game no keeper would have been able to save that shot.
Ashlyn Anderson recorded her first goal of the season in the 67th minute. McCormack fired a shot that was saved by Tarvin but Anderson was there for the rebound and she calmly knocked the ball into the goal to put FSU up 4-0.
Nawreen Ahmad followed that with a brace for her first two goals in Garnet and Gold. Mya Brandon sent a great ball into the box and Ahmad snapped off a brilliant header for her first goal. Ahmad’s second goal was another header. She showed her hops as she leapt up and sent it far post for the sixth goal of the night. Taylor Suarez finished the scoring with the seventh goal which was assisted by Giana Riley.
In the 85th minute Stetson earned a free kick. The Hatters drove a dangerous shot toward goal but Kate Ockene dove to her right to make a very impressive save to preserve the clean sheet for herself and starter Addie Todd.
From there Florida State cruised to the 7-0 victory.
Post Game
Florida State had 26 shots (13 on goal) while Stetson had one shot (one on goal).
Florida State dominated possession to the tune of 68% to 32%.
There is not a whole lot to say about this particular result. The Seminoles won a lot to a little because they have far superior talent. FSU is very talented and very deep. It is no accident that five of the seven goals were scored in the second half. The Hatters simply got worn down. Stetson had five subs that played more than 10 minutes. FSU had 12 subs that played more than 10 minutes.
Florida State started relatively slow. The Noles were dominating possession and applying virtually all of the pressure early but it wasn’t translating into dangerous opportunities. The two first half goals came because the Seminoles capitalized on mistakes from the Hatters. This is laudable but the FSU attack wasn’t generating very many chances in the first half.
Regarding FSU’s overall performance we really need to separate the first half from the second half. At halftime the Noles only had five shots and they had only two shots on goal. The floodgates opened in the second half as FSU had 21 shots (11 on goal). Was the one-way traffic in the second half due to FSU playing better – starting to figure things out – or was it more because the Hatters were simply worn out? It’s hard to know for sure but it was probably a combination of both things.
The issue for the Noles in the first half was that everything was simply too slow. The ball wasn’t moving fast enough. Basically everything the Seminoles earned offensively was because of individual brilliance or a Stetson mistake. The sustained buildup and intricate passing that we are accustomed to seeing from Florida State teams wasn’t there in the first half on a consistent basis.
Again, the second half was definitely better but why?
If the second half performance really means that the Noles are starting to figure things out then they will be fine because they have time to get on track to being the team that we are used to seeing. However, if they revert back to playing like they did for most of the first half then there could be rough waters ahead especially against the good teams.
Remember, in Tallahassee the regular season is really all about one thing: earning a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. That is a high bar. The issue for FSU is that the relatively light non-conference schedule isn’t great for the team’s RPI ranking. Therefore, the Seminoles will really have to be impressive in the ACC to earn that very important high ranking in the RPI. This team can obviously do that with the talent that is on the roster but they probably won’t be able to get there if the first half issues that we saw tonight (and at Kansas) don’t get ironed out.
The bottom line is that this team’s ceiling is national championship good. They just have to prove that they can reach it.
Next Game
The Seminoles will travel to Boca Raton to face Florida Atlantic on Sunday. The game will kickoff at noon and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
