'A bunch of bad-ass women' ... Seminoles celebrate FSU's 5th soccer national championship

As he took the stage at the FSU soccer team’s national championship celebration Tuesday evening, Brian Pensky reflected on the difficult, yet incredibly rewarding, journey his team embarked upon this season.

How they struggled early in a 1-1 tie at Kansas and came to the realization they needed to become a tougher team mentally and physically. How they went through a midseason slide in which they lost twice and tied twice in the span of seven games. Then how they made the difficult decision to sit a veteran goalkeeper in favor of an unproven freshman and went on a dream 6-0 run through the NCAA Tournament to claim the Seminoles’ fifth national championship.

Florida State capped that run with a dramatic 1-0 victory over No. 1 seed Stanford on Monday night. It marked only the second time this season that the Cardinal had been shut out, and it ended an NCAA Tournament streak in which Stanford won five matches by a combined margin of 22-5.

Going into the championship round, Pensky said, he thought his Seminoles had a legitimate chance to upset the Cardinal. But only if they played with tremendous grit and toughness and seized every opportunity to score.

The No. 3 seed Seminoles did just that, securing their second national title under his direction in the past three years. And not even 24 hours after hoisting the trophy in Kansas City, Pensky, his players and assistant coaches were back in Tallahassee celebrating inside the Doak Campbell Stadium Champions Club.

“This team is a bunch of bad-ass women,” Pensky said, to the cheers of more than 200 fans who crowded into the event space.

After a ceremony that featured tributes from FSU President Richard McCullough and Athletics Director Michael Alford and a performance from the Marching Chiefs, Pensky was asked if he was able to “step back” and reflect on what the Seminoles have accomplished in his tenure.

“Absolutely not,” Pensky said with hardly a hint of a smile. “I mean, I’ve got a recruit that lands at 10:07 tonight, and then four more coming in later this week. And I’m already worried about next year.”

While the head coach might already be looking ahead, there was at least a little time dedicated Tuesday to reflecting on the Seminoles’ impressive team performance and a pair of remarkable individual efforts.

First was that of freshman goalkeeper Kate Ockene, who played an integral role in the postseason run and made a slew of clutch saves in the final two games. Pensky acknowledged that sitting former starter Addie Todd was extremely difficult, given the fact Todd had shined at times last season and was far more experienced as a redshirt sophomore.

But with the Seminoles’ defense faltering midway through the season, Pensky knew he owed it to the rest of the team to give Ockene a chance.

“We needed to look at it,” he said. “Didn’t know what it was going to look like, because she’s a freshman and you don’t know, right? But a goalkeeper’s job is to keep the ball out of the back of the goal, and on the greatest stage, the kid made a save with four seconds left in the semifinal against TCU. And then to win championships, at some point you need your goalkeeper to make big plays, and she did that obviously early last night.

“But then really stayed consistent, I think. Made whatever it was, eight or nine saves throughout the game. And our team loves Kate, and she was a difference-maker last night.”

Pensky and his players also credited Todd with being a “tremendous leader” for the team, even after she was placed on the bench.

“She’s absolutely amazing — an amazing goalkeeper and an amazing person and someone I truly look up to,” Ockene said. “And she obviously, that’s like a very tough time. But she’s had my back and just has encouraged me and been awesome to me. … She’s a great person. She’s been really good to me.” 

And the move to Ockene was very good for Florida State’s championship hopes.

After a difficult first half Monday night in which Florida State seemed flustered by Stanford, sophomore forward Wrianna Hudson said the Seminoles drew inspiration from how relentless Ockene was at protecting the goal.

“I think she brought all of our spirits up every save she made,” Hudson said. “She had so much energy during that game. She was really MVP in that game, I have to say. Her saves just brought so much to our defense and our offense, because we know that she was working her butt off. So we had to do the same.”

And Hudson certainly did her part. Just three days after scoring the game-winning goal in the semifinal against TCU, she did it again with just over three minutes remaining against the Cardinal.

Although she is only finishing her sophomore season, Hudson has already turned in a number of these clutch efforts. She scored the game-winning goal in last year’s ACC Championship match, and in October of this year, she scored in the final minutes to give Florida State a 3-2 win at No. 3 Virginia.

She has scored 24 goals in her first two seasons of college soccer, and as Pensky was quick to note, Hudson will be a big part of the Seminoles’ future plans.

A future he is already mapping out.

“She is so calm and confident,” Pensky said. “And I’ve said it before, ice in her veins in front of the goal. So, we’re lucky to have her, and we’re lucky to have her for two more years.”

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