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Florida State Soccer rolls past Pitt, earns return trip to NCAA College Cup

by:Warchant Staff•11/24/23•

Warchant

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Release from Florida State Sports Information:

For the fourth consecutive season and the 14th time in school history, the Florida State soccer team is headed to the College Cup after a 3-0 win over Pitt in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday night in front of a sold-out crowd at the Seminole Soccer Complex.

FSU improved to a perfect 14-0 against the Panthers and defeated Pitt for the third time this season.  

FSU got off to a hot start and had four shots in the first three minutes but were unable to convert. Both teams began to settle in and got some good looks but neither team was able to put the ball in the back of the net, leaving the game tied at zero after the first 45 minutes with FSU holding a 9-5 shots advantage. 

The teams combined for just four shots in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but the Seminoles finally broke through in the 63rd minute.

Jordynn Dudley took a shot from just inside the 18-yard box that hit a Pitt defender and was ruled a handball, giving the Seminoles a penalty kick. Taylor Huff calmly stepped up and found the back of the net to give Florida State a 1-0 lead.

Just over five minutes later, Leah Pais, a graduate transfer from Pitt, drew another foul inside of the box and scored her second goal of the season to give the Seminoles a 2-0 lead. 

One minute later, Dudley broke away from the defense and had a one-on-one opportunity with the goalie. Pitt’s Ellie Breach made the save, but Onyi Echegini was there for the rebound and beat two defenders to give Florida State a commanding three-goal lead.

Echegini scored her 15th goal of the season, which is the most goals scored in a single season by a Seminole since Deyna Castellanos in 2017. FSU scored all three of its goals in six minutes and five seconds of game time. 

Pitt recorded just one shot on goal in the final 20 minutes of play, and the Florida State defense put together another terrific performance in recording its seventh shutout in the last eight games. FSU has not allowed a goal through four games in the NCAA Tournament and is the first team since Duke and South Carolina in 2017 to hold its first four opponents of the NCAA Tournament scoreless. 

Florida State awaits the winner of Clemson and Penn State in the College Cup in Cary, N.C. The Nittany Lions and the Tigers will square off Saturday at 1 p.m.

FSU will face the winner on Friday, Dec. 1, on ESPNU. The time will be announced at a later date. 

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

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