Boston College women’s soccer was in the running to take an early lead against Florida State for a total of one minute on Friday. The Eagles trailed for the rest of the time.
Against the reigning national champion Seminoles, BC (4–2–3, 0–1–0 Atlantic Coast) wasn’t up to the task, as No. 12 Florida State dominated the entire game and defeated the Eagles 6–0. BC showed some bright spots, but it struggled to generate enough offense to keep up with the firepower of the Seminoles (5–0–2, 1–0–0).
“We have a tendency to second guess ourselves and don’t come out on the front foot,” associate head coach Taylor Schram said. “So [we need to focus on] just continuing to instill confidence and belief in this group because we know how talented we are and [the] high level of a performance we can put together.”
Florida State held offensive control early, and BC had trouble asserting pressure. The Seminoles scored on their first possession of the game just one after the opening whistle. Midfielder Onyi Echegini scored in the upper right corner to give Florida State an early 1–0 lead.
Throughout the beginning of the first half, the Eagles struggled to maintain possession. The Seminoles played with more intensity, higher energy, cleaner passing, and greater control of the game, keeping the ball in the BC’s half.
Florida State increased its lead to 2–0 in the 11th minute. Forward Jody Brown controlled the ball in the middle of the field and passed outside to Echegini, who put the ball in the back of the net for her second goal of the game.
After a long stretch of Seminole control, the Eagles got possession back, powered by the dribbling of forward Sam Smith. Midfielder Samantha Agresti crossed the ball across the penalty box, but a shot by Ella Richards went wide.
At the start of the second half after a BC corner kick, Florida State pushed the ball up the field and passed to a wide open Echegini, who placed the ball past goalkeeper Wiebke Willebrandt for her third goal of the game.
The Eagles stop the speed and poise of Florida State, which scored again in the 59th minute to take a 4–0 lead.
BC then substituted Eva Nahas for Willebrandt. The change failed to make a difference, however, as Florida State continued to pressure Nahas. The Seminoles scored two more goals on Nahas.
BC took six shots, while Florida State finished with 24.
“For most of the season so far we’ve had trouble starting games at the energy level that we need to be at,” Schram said. “We’re just diving into some of the details related to that and trying to put together a good string of training sessions this week, so that we can get prepared for Duke next week.”
