The Seminoles cracked open ACC play on Thursday night, and what better way to start than by knocking off the nation’s hottest offense?
The Atlantic Coast Conference is the undisputed queen of conferences in Women’s soccer, and the team is looking to win its 6th consecutive ACC championship in the postseason. To get a chance at defending their title, every game in conference play is important.
Louisville entered on a six-game winning streak and boasting the nation’s top-scoring offense, while FSU (4-0-1)
carried its own momentum, having conceded just one goal all year.
The game started quickly with Louisville applying early pressure to the Nole back line. The Noles, in a 3-back position, absorbed the pressure with their aerial threat. Janet Okeke got her head on the ball to thwart a dangerous ball in, and Jordynn Dudley neutralized an in-swinging ball when Louisville notched the first corner of the game.
In the 6th minute, Noles launched their first offensive attack when Kameron Simmonds intercepted a fast-moving ball in the midfield. She quickly sent it to the feet of Dudley, who powered into the box, but could not quite ditch her defender, which gave the Louisville keeper enough time to collect the ball.
Both teams traded possession early, but FSU created the more menacing opportunities. In the ninth minute, Wrianna Hudson outran the defense to a long ball, won her 1v1, and whipped a cross across goal. Dudley and Yuna McCormack were just a step late on the finish. Three minutes later, Dudley sparked another attack, feeding Simmonds on the flank before getting the ball back at the top of the box, only to be clipped by the Louisville defense with no call. Louisville managed three set pieces in the first 15-minute stretch but never forced a save from FSU keeper Addie Todd.
While the game stayed transitional, FSU looked comfortable. Louisville often found themselves in a low-block with much of the team crowding into the box. The Noles were frequently in the penalty box, but there were many Louisville legs in the way; they could hardly register a proper shot.
In the 24th minute, center back Okeke lofted a perfect long ball toward Dudley near midfield. Dudley delightfully flicked it on to Wrianna Hudson, who outpaced her defender and drove into the box. With the defender beaten, a desperate tackle from behind sent Hudson to the turf and the home crowd to their feet. The referee wasted no time pointing to the spot, and after a brief, anticlimactic video review, the penalty stood. Hudson calmly stepped up and slotted the ball past the keeper, putting the Noles ahead 1–0.
Louisville shook off the early setback and stuck to their plan, using defensive pressure to win possession and press into FSU’s half. Their best look came in the 30th minute, when defender Karsyn Cherry pounced on a midfield miscue, burst past Lara Dantas, and slipped the ball to Nicole Jodin. Jodin’s shot was blocked but not cleared by Okeke, and the rebound fell kindly back to Cherry. Her follow-up, though, was snuffed out by Heather Gilchrist. It was a dangerous sequence that nearly broke through, but the Seminoles’ clean sheet held. The half closed quietly, and FSU carried a 1–0 lead into the break.
Dudley remained the spark of FSU’s attack. In the 59th minute, left-back Jaida McGrew threaded a daring ball past the entire Louisville back line, daring Dudley to chase. Most players would have let it roll out, but Dudley hit another gear, beating both the ball and the defenders to the line before cutting toward goal. Forced to stop her, a defender fouled her from behind just outside the penalty area. On the ensuing free kick, McCormack swung it to the back post, where Hudson rose to head it goalward—but heavy traffic allowed Louisville to scramble the ball clear. FSU continued to create promising chances throughout the half, but the Cardinal defense remained stalwart. The game wound down as the teams traded possession and defensive prowess.
As the crowd began to wonder if one goal would be enough, Louisville finally threatened. In the 77th minute, Jodin whipped a cross past the defense and across the face of goal, just out of Addie Todd’s reach. Luckily for FSU, no Cardinal was waiting on the back post, and the ball rolled out for a goal kick. The tension rose again in the 85th when a sharp passing sequence found Taylor Morris in the heart of the box. Her powerful header looked dangerous, but Todd read it all the way and calmly collected her first official save of the night.
Seconds later, the Seminoles put the game away. Todd launched a long punt down the right flank, where Hudson and Enasia Colon kept the play alive before slipping the ball to Dudley at the top of the box. She fed McCormack, who surged past defenders and coolly tucked a one-touch finish into the back corner. A deflection meant Dudley wasn’t credited with the assist, but her pass—combined with McCormack’s smart run—was what finally unlocked the Cardinal defense.
Florida State successfully ran out the clock and finished the game with a clean sheet.
The Seminoles showed growing chemistry in their ACC opener, with crisp midfield movement starting to click—even if there’s still some fine-tuning to do in the final third. Underclassmen continue to rise to the occasion: sophomore Peyton McGovern looked steady in the holding mid role, making her mark defensively and in distribution, while fellow sophomore Wrianna Hudson extended her scoring streak with her sixth goal of the season. When Mimi Van Zanten exited early in the second half, freshman Jaida McGrew stepped into the back line and held her ground with confidence.
After the match, head coach Brian Pensky praised his team’s effort: “This Louisville team came in with some mojo and confidence, having won six straight games, and that was the challenge we needed to rise to, and I thought by and large we did that… we met the challenge tonight in a lot of different areas.”
The Seminoles know that this is only the beginning of their quest. This weekend, they head to Syracuse, which begins a 3 game series of in-conference road games that will test their readiness.
