Leilanni Nesbeth, and her Florida State Women’s Soccer teammates scored three goals in the first 20 minutes and never looked back, as the top-seeds defeated Texas 5 - 0 at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
This will mark the sixth consecutive season that FSU has advanced to the quarterfinals and the 17th time in the last 19 seasons. FSU's five goals were the most goals scored by any FSU team in the third round of the NCAA Tournament, and Sunday was also the largest margin of victory for FSU in the third round of the tournament.
Florida State jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, with Beata Olsson's goal breaking the scoring drought in the fifth minute. A shot by Onyi Echegini was saved by Texas's Mia Justus, but the ball fell to Olsson who headed the ball into the empty net for her sixth goal of the season.
Florida State doubled their lead in the ninth minute Echegini corralled a great touch from Taylor Huff, and the ACC Offensive Player of the Year took the free space and found the back of the net for her team-high 14th goal of the season. This was the quickest that FSU has scored two goals to start a game this season.
Both Texas and FSU got great looks in the 12th and 13th minutes but both shots went off the post to keep the score at 2-0.
Jordynn Dudley scored Florida State's third goal in the first 20 minutes of the match after a Texas foul gave Dudley a chance from the penalty spot. Dudley converted the kick for her 12th goal of her freshman season which is tied for second in school history among freshmen. This was Florida State's first time scoring 3 goals in the first half of a game since August 21, 2022, when the Seminoles defeated Georgia by a 3-1 margin.
FSU picked up right where they left off to begin the second half as Ran Iwai sent a ball into the 18-yard box for Dudley who dished it off to Huff who fired it into the back of the net for her sixth goal of the season to increase the lead to 4-0 in the 49th minutes
Olivia Garcia scored her second goal of the NCAA Tournament as she made a great move to beat her defender in the corner, dribbled into the box and struck a great ball with her left foot to give Florida State their fifth goal of the night.
FSU's defense was nothing short of spectacular all night as they held the Longhorns' top five offense and the top scorer in the country to no goals. Cristina Roque picked up another win for Florida State and now holds the school record for most career shutouts in the NCAA Tournament with 14. FSU has now shut out six out of their last seven opponents and have allowed just four goals in their last 12 games.
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