2023 Florida State Seminoles women's soccer team

2023 Florida State Seminoles women's soccer
National Champions ACC Tournament Champions ACC Regular Season Champions
NCAA Tournament, College Cup
Conference	Atlantic Coast Conference
U. Soc. Coaches  poll	No. 1
TopDrawerSoccer.com	No. 1
Record	22–0–1 (9–0–1 ACC)
Head coach	Brian Pensky (2nd season)
Assistant coaches	Bobby Shuttleworth (2nd season) Aaron Brunner (2nd season) Andrew Hudson (1st season)
Home stadium	Seminole Soccer Complex
Seasons ←  2022 2024  →

2023 ACC women's soccer standings

v t e	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
No. 1 Florida State  ‍†‍‡‍y	9	–	0	–	1		.950			22	–	0	–	1		.978
No. 16 Notre Dame  ‍‍‍y	7	–	1	–	2		.800			12	–	4	–	4		.700
No. 3 Clemson  ‍‍‍y	7	–	2	–	1		.750			18	–	4	–	4		.769
No. 8 North Carolina  ‍‍‍y	5	–	0	–	5		.750			13	–	2	–	8		.739
No. 6 Pittsburgh  ‍‍‍y	6	–	3	–	1		.650			17	–	6	–	1		.729
Wake Forest  ‍‍‍	4	–	2	–	4		.600			10	–	3	–	5		.694
Virginia  ‍‍‍	3	–	3	–	4		.500			8	–	3	–	6		.647
Virginia Tech  ‍‍‍	4	–	6	–	0		.400			7	–	8	–	3		.472
Louisville  ‍‍‍	3	–	5	–	2		.400			4	–	9	–	5		.361
Duke  ‍‍‍	2	–	5	–	3		.350			6	–	7	–	3		.469
NC State  ‍‍‍	2	–	5	–	3		.350			3	–	9	–	6		.333
Miami (FL)  ‍‍‍	2	–	7	–	1		.250			3	–	10	–	4		.294
Boston College  ‍‍‍	0	–	6	–	4		.200			3	–	9	–	6		.333
Syracuse  ‍‍‍	0	–	9	–	1		.050			2	–	14	–	2		.167
† – Conference champion ‡ – 2023 ACC Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament Source: The ACC As of December 5, 2023 Rankings from United Soccer Coaches Poll

The 2023 Florida State Seminoles women's soccer team represented Florida State University during the 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer season. This was the 29th season of the university fielding a women's soccer program. The Seminoles were led by second-year head coach Brian Pensky, and played their home games at Seminole Soccer Complex.

The Seminoles started the season well by going 5–0 in non-conference play. They scored victories over three Power 5 schools, including eighth ranked TCU. They also won their in-state rivalry matchup with Florida. Their success carried over into ACC play as they began the regular season with a win over eighth ranked Clemson. They won their next game before a tie with then top-ranked North Carolina. The Seminoles would reach the number one ranking after winning their next three games. Once they held the number one ranking, they did not look back, winning their last four conference games to finish 9–0–1 in ACC play. Their final four game stretch included wins against two ranked teams, eleventh ranked Notre Dame and eighteenth ranked Pittsburgh.

The Seminoles entered the ACC Tournament undefeated and as the number one seed. After their first round bye, they defeated Pittsburgh in a regular season rematch to reach the Final. There they again faced off against Clemson, who they defeated 2–1 to win their fourth consecutive ACC Tournament title. ^[1] As tournament champions, they received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and were the first seed in the Florida State Bracket and the top overall seed in the tournament. They defeated Morehead State in the First Round, Texas A&M in the Second Round, Texas in the Third Round, Pittsburgh again in the Quarterfinals, Clemson again in the Semifinals, and Stanford in the Final.

Their 5–1 victory in the championship won the team their fourth overall title, all of which have come since 2014. Stanford's 36 game streak of allowing one or fewer goals was snapped and this was the first match where the Cardinal allowed five or more goals in a game since 1996. This was the first national championship match between two undefeated teams and Florida State became the first undefeated champion since Stanford in 2011. ^[2] Their twenty two wins were the third most in program history behind 2013 and their first national title season in 2014. It was their second undefeated season in program history with the other being the 2020 season. It was the Seminoles third undefeated conference season, following 2014 and 2020. ^[3] Onyi Echegini went on to win the Hermann Trophy, the fourth in program history. ^[4]

Previous season

Main article: 2022 Florida State Seminoles women's soccer team

The Seminoles finished the season 17–3–3 and 8–2–0 in ACC play to finish in a tie for first place. As the second seed in the ACC Tournament, they received a bye into the Semifinals where they hosted Notre Dame. The match ended in a 3–3 draw and Florida State won the ensuing penalty shoot-out 4–2 to advance to the Final. In the Final, they defeated North Carolina to successfully defend their ACC Tournament title. As tournament champions, they received an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and were the first seed in the Florida State Bracket. They defeated Florida Gulf Coast in the First Round, eight-seed LSU in the Second Round, and four-seed Pittsburgh in the Round of 16. They hosted third-seed Arkansas in the Quarterfinals and won 1–0. This set up a rematch with North Carolina in the Semifinals. This time, North Carolina came out on top 3–2 to end the Seminoles' season.

Offseason

Departures

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for Departure
Jenna Nighswonger	2	FW	5'4"	Senior	Huntington Beach, California	Graduated; drafted 4th overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft
Summer Denigan	5	MF	5'4"	Freshman	Union, Kentucky	Transferred to Georgia
Heather Payne	12	MF	5'7"	Senior	Ballinasloe, Ireland	Graduated
Emma Bissell	17	MF	5'7"	Sophomore	Chester, England	Signed professional contract with Everton [5]
Amelia Horton	19	FW	5'3"	Sophomore	Olathe, Kansas	—
Mia Justus	23	GK	5'9"	Sophomore	Lakewood, Ohio	Transferred to Texas
Clara Robbins	26	MF	5'7"	Graduate Student	Stafford, Virginia	Graduated; drafted 9th overall in the 2023 NWSL Draft
Melina Descary	88	MF	5'7"	Freshman	Montreal, Canada	Transferred to South Alabama

Incoming Transfers

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Lily Farkas	2	FW	5'6"	Senior	Kansas City, Missouri	Michigan [6]
Taylor Huff	3	MF	5'8"	Junior	Mansfield, Ohio	Tennessee [7]
Claire Rain	22	DF	5'9"	Junior	Tampa, Florida	Tennessee [8]
Leah Pais	30	FW	5'4"	Senior	Mississauga, Ontario	Pittsburgh [9]

Recruiting Class

Name	Nationality	Hometown	Club	TDS Rating
Jordynn Dudley FW		Milton, Georgia	United Futbol Academy (GA)	[10]
Peyton Nourse MF		Denver, Colorado	Colorado Rush	[11]
Maggie Taitano MF		Carlsbad, California	San Diego Surf	[12]
Adelyn Todd GK		Littleton, Colorado	Real Colorado	[13]
Amelia Van Zanten DF		Kildeer, Illinois	Eclipse Select (IL)	[14]

Squad

Roster

As of December 5, 2023 ^[15]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 FW   USA Olivia Garcia 1 GK   PUR Cristina Roque 2 FW   USA Lily Farkas 3 MF   USA Taylor Huff 4 MF   USA Maggie Taitano 6 MF   NGA Onyi Echegini 7 MF   JPN Ran Iwai 8 DF   USA Lauren Flynn 9 FW   SWE Beata Olsson 10 FW   JAM Jody Brown 11 FW   USA Jordynn Dudley

No. Pos. Nation Player 13 FW   BER LeiLanni Nesbeth 14 MF   USA Peyton Nourse 15 MF   USA Kaitlyn Zipay 16 MF   USA Sophia Nguyen 17 MF   JAM Amelia Van Zanten 18 MF   POR Maria Alagoa 20 DF   USA Heather Gilchrist 21 FW   USA Olivia Lebdaoui 22 DF   USA Claire Rain 23 GK   USA Adelyn Todd 30 FW   CAN Leah Pais

Team management

Position	Staff
Athletic Director	Michael Alford
Head Coach	Brian Pensky
Assistant Coach	Bobby Shuttleworth
Assistant Coach	Aaron Brunner
Assistant Coach	Andrew Hudson
Director of Operations	Sarah Buckley

Source: ^[15]

Schedule

Source: ^[16]

Date Time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (Attendance) City, State
Exhibition
August 11* 2:00 p.m.	No. 6	No. 24  UCF	W 4–3	—	UCF Soccer and Track Stadium Orlando, FL
Non-conference Regular season
August 17* 8:00 p.m.,  SECN	No. 6	at  Texas A&M	W  2–1	1–0–0	Ellis Field (1,577) College Station, TX
August 20* 8:00 p.m.,  ESPN+	No. 6	at No. 8  TCU	W  2–0	2–0–0	Garvey-Rosenthal Stadium (1,424) Fort Worth, TX
September 3* 2:00 p.m.,  ACCNX	No. 2	South Florida	W  5–1	3–0–0	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,232) Tallahassee, FL
September 7* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 5	at  North Florida	W  4–0	4–0–0	Hodges Stadium (4,549) Jacksonville, FL
September 10* 3:30 p.m., ACCN	No. 5	Florida Rivalry	W  1–0	5–0–0	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,823) Tallahassee, FL
ACC Regular season
September 15 4:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 4	at No. 8  Clemson	W  4–2	6–0–0 (1–0–0)	Riggs Field (1,102) Clemson, SC
September 21 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 3	at  Syracuse	W  3–2	7–0–0 (2–0–0)	SU Soccer Stadium (207) Syracuse, NY
September 24 12:00 p.m.,  ESPNU	No. 3	at No. 1  North Carolina	T  3–3	7–0–1 (2–0–1)	Dorrance Field (4,079) Chapel Hill, NC
September 29 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 2	Miami (FL) Rivalry	W  2–0	8–0–1 (3–0–1)	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,978) Tallahassee, FL
October 5 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 2	at  Louisville	W  2–0	9–0–1 (4–0–1)	Lynn Stadium (198) Louisville, KY
October 8 1:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 2	Boston College	W  6–0	10–0–1 (5–0–1)	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,444) Tallahassee, FL
October 12 7:00 p.m., ACCN	No. 1	No. 11  Notre Dame	W  4–1	11–0–1 (6–0–1)	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,693) Tallahassee, FL
October 19 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 1	No. 18  Pittsburgh	W  3–2	12–0–1 (7–0–1)	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,125) Tallahassee, FL
October 22 1:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 1	at  Duke	W  4–0	13–0–1 (8–0–1)	Koskinen Stadium (803) Durham, NC
October 26 7:00 p.m., ACCNX	No. 1	NC State	W  5–0	14–0–1 (9–0–1)	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,189) Tallahassee, FL
ACC Tournament
November 2 8:20 p.m., ACCN	(1) No. 1	vs. (5) No. 11 Pittsburgh Semifinal	W  2–0	15–0–1	Sahlen's Stadium (678) Cary, NC
November 5 12:00 p.m., ESPNU	(1) No. 1	vs. (3) No. 7 Clemson Final	W  2–1	16–0–1	Sahlen's Stadium Cary, NC
NCAA Tournament
November 10 5:00 p.m., ESPN+	(1) No. 1	Morehead State First Round	W  5–0	17–0–1	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,630) Tallahassee, FL
November 17 5:30 p.m., ESPN+	(1) No. 1	(8) Texas A&M Second Round	W  1–0	18–0–1	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,529) Tallahassee, FL
November 19 5:30 p.m., ESPN+	(1) No. 1	(5)  Texas Third Round	W  5–0	19–0–1	Seminole Soccer Complex (1,391) Tallahassee, FL
November 24 5:30 p.m., ESPN+	(1) No. 1	(7) No. 11 Pittsburgh Quarterfinal	W  3–0	20–0–1	Seminole Soccer Complex (2,000) Tallahassee, FL
December 1 6:00 p.m., ESPNU	(1) No. 1	vs. (1) No. 7 Clemson Semifinal	W  2–0	21–0–1	Sahlen's Stadium (10,635) Cary, NC
December 4 6:00 p.m., ESPNU	(1) No. 1	vs. (2) No. 3  Stanford Final	W  5–1	22–0–1	Sahlen's Stadium (3,954) Cary, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern.

Awards and honors

Recipient	Award	Date	Ref.
Cristina Roque	Pre-season All-ACC Team	August 10	[17]
Jody Brown
Taylor Huff	Hermann Trophy Preseason Watchlist	August 17	[18]
Cristina Roque
Jody Brown
Taylor Huff	ACC Offensive Player of the Week	August 21	[19]
Ran Iwai	ACC Defensive Player of the Week	October 10	[20]
Onyi Echegini	ACC Offensive Player of the Week	October 17	[21]
	College Soccer News National Player of the Week	October 23
	ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week	October 24	[22]
Lauren Flynn	ACC Defensive Player of the Week	October 31	[23]
Onyi Echegini	ACC Offensive Player of the Year	November 1	[24]
Brian Pensky	ACC Coach of the Year
Jordynn Dudley	ACC Freshman of the Year
Jody Brown	All-ACC First Team
Jordynn Dudley
Onyi Echegini
Taylor Huff	All-ACC Second Team
Leilanni Nesbeth
Cristina Roque
Beata Olsson	All-ACC Third Team
Jordynn Dudley	All-ACC Freshman Team
Amelia Van Zanten
Onyi Echegini	ACC Tournament MVP	November 5	[25]
Onyi Echegini	All-ACC Tournament Team
Cristina Roque
Beata Olsson
Jordynn Dudley
Amelia Van Zanten
Onyi Echegini	United Soccer Coaches All-Region First Team	November 28	[26]
Jody Brown
Jordynn Dudley
Taylor Huff
Cristina Roque	United Soccer Coaches All-Region Second Team
Onyi Echegini	Hermann Trophy winner	January 5	[27] [28] [4]
Jordynn Dudley
Onyi Echegini	United Soccer Coaches All-America First Team	December 1	[29]
Jordynn Dudley
Taylor Huff	United Soccer Coaches All-America Second Team
Jody Brown
Cristina Roque	United Soccer Coaches All-America Third Team
Jordynn Dudley	College Cup Offensive MVP	December 4	[30]
Lauren Flynn	College Cup Defensive MVP
Jordynn Dudley	College Cup All-Tournament Team
Lauren Flynn
Jody Brown
Taylor Huff
Leilanni Nesbeth
Onyi Echegini	Honda Sports Award winner	December 21	[31] [32]
Brian Pensky, Bobby Shuttleworth, Aaron Brunner, Andrew Hudson	United Soccer Coaches Coaching Staff of the Year	December 15	[33]
Jordynn Dudley	Top Drawer Soccer Freshman of the Year	December 18
Brian Pensky	Top Drawer Soccer Coach of the Year	December 18
Jordynn Dudley	Top Drawer Soccer First Team Selection	December 18
Lauren Flynn
Onyi Echegini
Taylor Huff	Top Drawer Soccer Second Team Selection
Cristina Roque	Top Drawer Soccer Third Team Selection

Rankings

See also: 2023 NCAA Division I women's soccer rankings

Ranking movements
Legend:██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
United Soccer [34]	6	2	2	5	4	3 (1)	2	2	1 (8)	1 (7)	1 (8)	1 (8)	Not released				1 (8)
TopDrawer Soccer [35]	3	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

References

1. Nee, Chris (November 5, 2023). "ACC Champions: FSU Soccer defeats Clemson, 2-1, to earn the 2023 ACC Tournament Championship". 247sports.com. 247Sports . Retrieved November 5, 2023.
2. "Florida State beats Stanford for its fourth women's soccer national championship — all since 2014". AP News . December 4, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
3. "Florida State to Host National Championship Celebration For Women's Soccer on Tuesday". Seminoles.com. Florida State University. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
4. "Echegini Wins MAC Hermann Trophy". Seminoles.com. Florida State Athletic Department. January 5, 2024. Retrieved January 6, 2024.
5. "Emma Bissell: Everton sign midfielder on two-year deal". BBC. August 2, 2023. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
6. "Soccer Adds Lily Farkas to 2023 Squad". seminoles.com. Florida State Athletics. March 31, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
7. Hall, Cora (December 30, 2022). "Tennessee soccer loses top player Taylor Huff, who rejoins Brian Pensky at Florida State". knoxnews.com. Knoxville News Sentinel . Retrieved August 10, 2023.
8. "Noles Add Claire Rain to 2023 Squad". seminoles.com. Florida State Athletics. January 13, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
9. "Soccer Adds Graduate Transfer Leah Pais". seminoles.com. Florida State Athletics. July 5, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
10. "Jordynn Dudley". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
11. "Peyton Nourse". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
12. "Maggie Taitano". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
13. "Adelyn Todd". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
14. "Amelia Van Zanten". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
15. "2023-24 Soccer roster". Florida State University Athletics. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
16. "2023-24 Women's Soccer Schedule". Seminoles.com. Florida State University Athletics. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
17. "North Carolina Named 2023 ACC Women's Soccer Preseason Favorite". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 10, 2023. Retrieved August 10, 2023.
18. "2023 Women's Hermann Trophy Watch List Announced". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. August 17, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
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20. "ACC Announces Women's Soccer Player of Week Honors". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 10, 2023. Retrieved October 11, 2023.
21. "ACC Announces Women's Soccer Player of Week Honors". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 17, 2023. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
22. "ACC Announces Women's Soccer Player of the Week Honors". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 24, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2023.
23. "ACC Announces Final Women's Soccer Player of the Week Honors of 2023". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. October 31, 2023. Retrieved October 31, 2023.
24. "2023 All-ACC Women's Soccer Awards Announced". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
25. "Florida State Wins Fourth Consecutive ACC Women's Soccer Title". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 5, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
26. "Five Seminoles Named to Atlantic All-Region Team". Seminoles.com. Florida State Athletic Department. November 28, 2023. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
27. "Echegini and Dudley Named MAC Hermann Award Semifinalists". Seminoles.com. Florida State Athletic Department. November 29, 2023. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
28. "Echegini Named MAC Hermann Finalist". Seminoles.com. Florida State Athletic Department. December 6, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
29. "2023 NCAA Division I Women's All-Americans Announced". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
30. "CHAMPIONS AGAIN: Florida State Wins 2023 NCAA Women's Soccer National Championship". TheACC.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. December 4, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
31. "Echegini Named Honda Award Finalist for Women's Soccer". Seminoles.com. Florida State Athletic Department. December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
32. "Echegini Wins Honda Sports Award for Women's Soccer". Seminoles.com. Florida State Athletic Department. December 21, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
33. "Soccer Staff Named United Soccer Coaches Staff of the Year". Seminoles.com. Florida State Athletic Department. December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
34. "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Women — National". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.
35. "College Soccer National Rankings". TopDrawer Soccer. December 5, 2023. Retrieved December 5, 2023.