11/10/2023 other sports Edit

FSU soccer dominates Morehead State in NCAA Tournament opener

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

The Florida State soccer team entered the NCAA Tournament Friday coming off a dominant, undefeated regular season.

That same dominance certainly carried over into the Seminoles' first NCAA Tournament game.

The No. 1 overall seed Seminoles (17-0-1) controlled all phases of their first-round matchup against Morehead State (9-6-5) Friday night at the Seminole Soccer Complex, coasting to a stress-free 5-0 win.

FSU outshot Morehead State 31 to 2, had 16 shots on goal while holding the Eagles without any and had 74% of the possession. Morehead State didn't get its first shot of any kind until after halftime in the 48th minute.

"Professional performance. Had some really good final passes and some good goals. Had some good possession where we moved the ball fast..." FSU head coach Brian Pensky said. "Good performance, good start to our NCAA Tournament."

After a few close calls in the opening 30 minutes -- including two shots which hit the post/crossbar, FSU got on the board in the 35th minute on a headed goal by Olivia Garcia which was set up by a stellar ball in from Leah Pais and a lofted pass across the face off goal by Sophia Nguyen.

"Leah played a great ball to Soph and with her great control, she was able to switch it to me on the back post," Garcia said. "I think our patience and determination that we would eventually get a goal led us to keep going."

The Seminoles doubled their lead mere minutes later when Peyton Nourse scored her third goal of the season using the side of her body in a scrum on an exceptional free kick in by Ran Iwai.

After leading 2-0 at halftime, FSU added another goal to its tally minutes into the second half when Lauren Flynn ripped a ball from outside the box into the far corner of the net. It was her fifth goal of the season and came on an assist from Onyi Echegini.

Jody Brown added the Seminoles' fourth goal in the 76th minute when she converted on a beautiful setup which included passes from Pais (her second assist) and a remarkable lofted pass into the box by Maggie Taitano.

And finally, Beata Olsson put a bow on the scoring with her fifth goal of the season in the 88th minute. Iwai recorded her second assist of the game and seventh of the season on the score.

With the win, the Seminoles advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament, which will also be played next weekend at the Seminole Soccer Complex. FSU will take on either No. 8 seed Texas A&M or Colorado. Those teams are set to face off later Friday evening in College Station, Texas.