In December of last year, Florida State was the best team in the nation.
After notching an undefeated season and dominating in the NCAA tournament, the Seminoles hoisted the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship trophy over their heads following a dominant 5–1 victory over Stanford.
Ten months later, things had flipped for the Seminoles (8–2–2, 3–2–1 Atlantic Coast). Now ranked No. 22 and coming off two consecutive conference losses, they once again found themselves struggling against an ACC opponent as they headed into halftime deadlocked in a 0–0 tie against Boston College women’s soccer (10–4–1, 2–3–1).
The first 45 minutes of play saw both offensives trying, and failing, to find their groove. The Eagles managed to convert the first shot on goal in the 12th minute, when BC forward Aislin Streicek fired the ball towards the bottom right of the net, only for it to be scooped up by FSU goalkeeper Addie Todd.
The Seminoles saw a real opportunity to get on the board in the 35th minute, when striker Wrianna Hudson received a cross right in front of the goal, chipping it past BC keeper Wiebke Willebrandt and into the back of the net. But a moment later, the offsides flag was raised, and the goal was negated.
The clock winded down with little more action, with only one off-target attempt being rattled off by FSU’s Taylor Huff in the 37th minute and BC’s Sophia Lowenberg late in the 43rd minute. At the break, both teams had managed a measly three shots each.
At the dawn of the second period, the Seminoles channeled their 2023 selves and came out firing. After two quick shots by midfielder Lara Dantas in the 49th and 50th minutes, the Seminoles looked poised for an offensive breakthrough.
In the 52nd minute, Jordynn Dudley delivered.
Charging into BC’s third, the 2023 First Team All-American received a nimble feed from Dantas in the right side of the box. She immediately let it fly, sending a right-foot rocket past the diving Willebrandt and into the bottom left corner of the net, putting FSU ahead 1–0.
Even after Dudley’s go-ahead goal, the defending champs didn’t take their foot off the gas. Their offense erupted for eight shots in the remaining minutes, putting the onus on Willebrandt and the rest of the Eagles’ defense to prevent the game from getting out of reach for BC.
In the 77th and 78th minutes alone, the Seminoles fired three shots-on-goal, all of which were saved by Willebrandt. Again in the 84th minute, Dudley launched a missile headed toward the middle-right side of the net. But a diving Willebrandt was able to get her fingertips on the ball, deflecting it back into play and keeping BC’s deficit to one.
Despite Willebrandt’s five saves, the Eagles’ offense was never able to put it together. Their closest attempt at an equalizer came in the 64th minute, when an Ava McNeil free kick barreling towards the top right corner of the net was saved by the FSU defenders.
The game clock eventually ticked down to all zeroes, and BC dropped its second straight match to an ACC opponent.
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