Leilanni Nesbeth and her top-seeded Florida State Women’s Soccer teammates advanced to the ACC Championship for the 12th time in program history with a 4-0 shutout win over fourth-seed and No. 6 Duke.
The Florida State offense exploded, scoring four goals in a game for the sixth time this season. All four goals came from four different student-athletes, with one each from Jody Brown, Jaelin Howell, Kristina Lynch and Jenna Nighswonger. Florida State has now scored 31 goals in 10 games.
Florida State showed their first threat on offense in the 15th minute when Kirsten Pavlisko passed it to Clara Robbins in the middle who then led Nesbeth perfectly before the Duke keeper got in the way. One minute later, Lynch made a nice run down the left side of the field before crossing it into the six-yard box, leading to a Kaitlyn Zipay shot. Her shot would be deflected in traffic leading to a Clara Robbins shot that would go over the net.
Florida State finally go on the board in the 31st minute on a goal from Brown, the fifth of her freshman campaign. The goal came from a perfect pass from Jenna Nighswonger that led her to the right post. Brown showed her speed and outran the Duke defense and shot it across the face of the Duke keeper into the left side of the net. The play was started by a nice pass from Emily Madril to Nighswonger in the midfield.
In the 60th minute, Florida State broke through once again, this time on a corner kick. After not having a single corner in the first half Florida State had three in a row, finally leading to a goal, this one by Howell. Nesbeth served in a nice ball that was deflected by the Duke keeper and wound up at Howell’s feet and she was able to give Florida State a 2-0 lead. It was her fourth goal of the season, all on corner kicks.
Florida State extended their lead to 3-0 in the 65th minute on a goal from Kristina Lynch. This goal once again came off of a corner kick by Nesbeth. She kicked in a ball to Clara Robbins who headed it back to the center of the six-yard box where Lynch connected for her third goal of the season.
Florida State capped off their 4-0 victory with their last goal in the 77th minute by Nighswonger, her fourth of the season. It was set up by a nice pass from Jaelin Howell to Heather Payne who passed it into Nighswonger just right of the penalty spot and she was able to get it by the Duke keeper.
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