No. 1 FSU Soccer enters College Cup against Rutgers two wins from title
The No. 1-ranked Florida State soccer team notched another signature achievement last week when the Seminoles knocked off Michigan in the NCAA's Elite Eight, 1-0, earning a familiar place in the College Cup.
Now FSU faces Rutgers tonight (7 p.m. ET on ESPNU) in the national semifinals with a spot in the championship game on the line.
With two wins in Santa Clara, Calif., the Seminoles can bring the soccer program a national title for the third time. Both of FSU's previous championships, in 2014 and 2018, came under decorated head coach Mark Krikorian.
"When I came here a number of years ago, the goal was to compete for national championships every year," said Krikorian. "Sitting here, there's 300-something schools out there that would love to be in our spot playing this weekend, but our kids have worked extremely hard, our staff has worked hard to get us to this point."
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Florida State has reached the College Cup in eight of last 11 seasons and is playing in the national semifinals for the 12th time in program history. The 'Noles hold a 5-6 record all-time in the semifinals.
"It's difficult to maintain the level of excellence we've had," Krikorian said. "It's not easy to win, and it's not easy to win consistently at the level we have for a long time.
"But the job is not done."
FSU (20-1-2) and Rutgers (19-3-2) will tangle Friday night, with the winner playing Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, also on ESPNU.
Rutgers went 10-0 in conference this season before losing to Michigan 1-0 in the Big Ten Championship. After the Scarlet Knights shut out their first two opponents in the tournament in Bucknell (2-0) and Saint Louis (4-0), things tightened up considerably. Both TCU and Arkansas took Rutgers to penalty kicks.
"They play very well on both sides of the ball," Krikorian said, before labeling Rutgers an "elite-level" program. "Probably, like us, the foundation of their team is good, collective defending. They play in a very organized fashion and they make it difficult for teams to get good looks at their goal."
ALSO READ: Overtime Thriller: FSU Soccer tops Michigan 1-0, advances to College Cup
In a nail-biting game last week, FSU punched its ticket to the College Cup in overtime.
A sellout home crowd witnessed FSU's Beata Olsson score a goal with under a minute to play in the first overtime period, taking down the Wolverines with a walk-off boot.
During the regular season, FSU took a 14-0 start into the second-to-last weekend of the 2021 slate. The 'Noles overcame an 0-1-2 stretch by winning the ACC Championship and reclaiming their No. 1 ranking.
In the NCAA Tournament, FSU breezed past South Alabama (3-0) and SMU (5-1) the first two rounds before a 1-0 win over Pepperdine in the Sweet 16.
Since the COVID-delayed 2020 season concluded seven months ago, FSU has been looking to avenge a devastating national title loss to Santa Clara in penalty kicks. Defending-champion Santa Clara is still alive on the other side of the bracket. The hometown Broncos and BYU play at 9:30 on ESPNU, also tonight.
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