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Florida State

FSU Soccer rolls to fourth national title with 5-1 win over Stanford

On3 imageby: Corey Clark12/05/23Corey_Clark
On3 image

They got challenged early in the second half, and then they absolutely poured it on. Like they’ve done all season long.

The Florida State women’s soccer team capped off an unbeaten season with a dominating 5-1 win over previously undefeated Stanford on Monday night to win the 2023 national championship in Cary, N.C.

The Seminoles have now outscored opponents this season 53-5 in the second halves of games, and the three in the second half Monday — by Beata Olsson, Jody Brown and Onyi Echegini — broke the final wide open to finish off the best season in program history and one of the best in the history of the sport.

Stanford came into the game ranked first in the nation in scoring defense.

The Cardinal had allowed four second-half goals all season. They gave up three in the second half on Monday night.

And the Seminoles (22-0-1) put up the most goals in a College Cup match in the last 20 years en route to the program’s fourth national championship and first under second-year head coach Brian Pensky. Florida State also became the first undefeated national champion since Stanford in 2011.

After an even first 20 minutes, FSU bombarded Stanford’s hyped defense with two goals in less than 30 seconds. First, freshman All-American Jordynn Dudley hammered home a penalty kick after getting fouled in the box. And then literally 26 seconds later, Brown scored her first goal of the match with a sensational left-footed finish off a pass from Echegini.

Just like that, lightning struck twice. And the Seminoles never trailed. They allowed their first goal of the NCAA Tournament early in the second half, but then responded with that three-goal barrage to leave no doubt who the best team in the country truly was in 2023.

Olsson had two assists to go along with that critical second-half goal, and Dudley added an assist of her own on a terrific touch pass to a streaking Olsson.

“We knew the goals were going to come,” Pensky said. “The goals were always going to come. We hadn’t been shut out (all season). We just played a team that had given up 10 all season. We scored five. They hadn’t given up more than one goal in any game this season. We scored five.”

Yes, they did.

And now they have another banner to hang up at the Florida State soccer complex. Another star to add to the uniform. And another national championship trophy to add to that case.

“It’s my last time in these threads,” said senior captain Leilanni Nesbeth. “To go out like this is an unforgettable moment. This is an unforgettable game with an unforgettable group. And I am forever in debt to this program.”

Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.

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