The Florida State soccer team hit the friendly confines of the Seminole Soccer Complex after a 10-day layoff. The Seminoles defeated the Gators in Gainesville last week, now they welcome another team with orange colors in upstate New York conference foe Syracuse.
The game marks the conference opener for FSU as they head toward the back half of their schedule. The ’Noles did have the services of midfielder Lara Dantas after the talented freshman returned from competing in the U-20 World Cup for her native country Brazil. The remaining players competing for the United States should be back by late September or early October.
FSU defeated the Orange 5-1 to notch in the first ACC first match of the season. Coach Brian Pensky was pleased with his team’s performance after a long layoff as they head towards their first ACC road game against SMU on Sunday.
“Annoyed we gave up a goal, but we’ll take it, and we’ll move on and rest and recover for Sunday,” Pensky said.
The Garnet and Gold didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard when freshman forward Wrianna Hudson scored during the sixth minute. The Rochester native played 61 minutes during the match and has had more of an active role since the absence of the U-20 players. Her development will be fun to watch as the rest of Florida State's roster returns.
Syracuse could not muster up much offense during the game. At times, the Orange looked overmatched against the Seminoles' wave of offensive attacks. The Orange tried to play keep away and often tried to slow the pace, but it was impossible on Thursday night. FSU was in complete control of the match and victory was never in doubt.
The score remained 1-0 in favor of the ’Noles until the 14th minute, when senior midfielder Carissa Boeckmann found junior forward Kameron Simmonds for the goal to put FSU up 2-0. The score remained 2-0 at halftime, but Simmonds wasn’t done for the night.
Simmonds picked up where she left off by scoring another goal in the 52nd minute to extend the lead.
Of course, any Florida State soccer game wouldn’t be complete without senior midfielder Taylor Huff getting involved — and did she ever. The talented forward scored the last two goals to put the game out of reach. Although Syracuse was able to get one goal on the night in 83rd minute by midfielder Ashley Rauch, it was a meaningless goal.
The game on Sunday will be the first time FSU and SMU will play as conference opponents, with SMU being a new member this year.
“It’ll be a new world for us,” Pensky said of playing SMU. “They’ve now played three ACC games, 2-0-1 in the league sitting with seven points. We only have three points so we’re chasing them, and we got to go get a win.”
