The No. 22 Florida State soccer team hit the field at the Seminole Soccer Complex on a chilly Thursday evening. The “Plex” was packed in anticipation of a crucial conference game against No. 23 Virginia.

Having uncharacteristically lost two out of their last three games, the Seminoles were looking to get back to their consistent winning ways. But at least their record home winning streak was still very much alive.

The Seminoles are now at a full-strength roster that is healthy at the right time as they enter the home stretch of the regular season. All the players who missed time early in the season due to the Under-20 World Cup are now back and have been reintegrated into the lineup and rotation. The young freshmen who were thrust into action during the U-20 players’ absence are now matured and are not wide-eyed freshmen anymore. They are major contributors. Freshmen Lara Dantas, Wrianna Hudson, Solai Washington and 17-year-old phenom Ashlyn Puerta have developed at a significant rate and that was apparent on Thursday night.

The regular season is a grind to get to postseason play, but the Seminoles looked to have regained their confidence by dominating the Cavaliers from start to finish in a 4-0 victory.

“There was obviously a lot at stake against a very good team,” FSU coach Brian Pensky said of Virginia. “It was important because you want to have a good performance and obviously the results matter. Our team was dialed in from start to finish, defending, attacking and it was a complete performance.”

The game started out with UVA attempting to slow down FSU (9-2-2, 4-2-1 ACC) by playing keep away for the better part of the first half. This type of constant passing is a strategy that can only work for so long though. Senior forward Taylor Huff was active like her usual self, sprinting all over the field with intensity and dominating the ball. Huff put Florida State on the board first in the 18th minute when she headed in a beautiful corner kick from senior midfielder Ran Iwai.

The Cavaliers continued to try and pass their way out of the Seminoles’ defensive prowess. But when that didn’t work, it led to frustration. Both teams were starting to get physical with one another and the intensity began to increase. But a foul by Virginia goalkeeper Victoria Safradin in the 22nd minute gave Solai Washington an opportunity to extend the score on a penalty kick. Washington capitalized by drilling in a goal to give FSU a 2-0 lead.

Ten minutes later the score would change again when star forward Jordynn Dudley headed an unorthodox ball that found Wrianna Hudson’s foot inside the box. The score was 3-0 heading into halftime with the ’Noles firmly in control.

There were other opportunities for Hudson to score multiple times during the game but showed that she still is a freshman who is still learning. Hudson had two gimmies that she couldn’t convert when she lost her dribble on a breakaway in the box and pulled a Charlie Brown when she completely missed another ball that would have found the back of the net if she could have made contact with the ball. But the duo of Dudley and Hudson should excite Seminoles fans for years to come as both form an imposing one-two punch.

Florida State had firm control during the second half and ended up holding Virgina to four shots on goal for the match. The Seminoles added their final goal of the match in the 75th minute when junior forward Giana Riley put the Cavaliers away.

The final ended with FSU securing their second straight victory 4-0 after dropping the previous two. Coming out on Thursday night with the intensity and drive to win was important for the ’Noles as they look to climb their way back up the rankings to defend their national championship crown with just three games to go.

FSU will have a quick turnaround, welcoming Pittsburgh to the “Plex” on Sunday. Pitt is no stranger to Florida State, having played the Seminoles three times last year.

“They have a lot of players with a lot of experience,” Pensky said. “They went very deep in the tournament last year and they are rolling. I think they’ve got a little bit of mojo going on as a team. Connecting a lot of passes creates a lot of opportunities and they’re getting 20 to 30 shots off consistently. So we’re going to have our hands full, and it’s got to start with our defending.”

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