Nesbeth & Florida State are College Cup National Champions
IslandStats.com
A tremendous two-goal stretch in a 26-second span in the first half propelled Leilanni Nesbeth and her top-ranked Florida State Women’s Soccer teammates to a 5 - 1 win over No. 2 Stanford in front of a packed crowd at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. on Monday night in the College Cup National Championship.
Florida State have now won all four of their NCAA Soccer titles since 2014 – winning in 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2023 – four championships in a 10-year run. Their five goals are the most they've scored in a College Cup match, and it was the most scored by any team in the National Championship since 2012.
Forward Jody Brown was one of the stars of the game for FSU, picking up two goals. Beata Olsson came up big with one goal and two assists, while Jordynn Dudley added a goal and one assist. Onyi Echegini came through in the end with a goal to cement another title.
The scoring madness began when superstar freshman forward Dudley received a great ball in the box, baited her defender and drew a foul. The penalty kick resulted in Dudley going top shelf to give Florida State a 1 - 0 lead at the 28:27 mark in the first half, her 14th goal of the year.
The momentum quickly built less than 30 seconds later when Brown snuck past the vaunted Stanford defense down the left side, received a beautiful lead pass from Taylor Huff and used her second touch with her left foot to get one past Stanford goalkeeper Ryan Campbell for the second goal of the match.
Stanford made the game interesting when it scored in the 52nd minute and early in the second half to cut the FSU lead to 2-1.
Olsson gave Florida State a crucial goal in the 58th minute when she broke free and delivered a strike from the left side, making it 3-1. She was able to beat her oncoming defender on a one touch to give her the space to get her shot off. Olsson then delivered just a few minutes later when she gave Brown a one touch to the right side on an elusive attack, and Brown put it through for her second goal of the game.
Echegini followed with a goal of her own in the 84th minute to give FSU a 5-1 lead, her team-leading 16th of the season.
Florida State finished the game with 16 shots to Stanford's five, including an 8-1 advantage in shots on goal.
The championship win caps Florida State's first undefeated season in program history, in what is perhaps the best version of the soccer program ever. Monday's big-time matchup pitted the nation's top scoring offense in FSU (3.18 goals per game) against Stanford's top defensive unit that allowed just 0.42 goals per game.
The title completes a remarkable run for Florida State not just in the regular season, but in the NCAA Tournament where they out-scored their opponents 21-1.
Florida State Athletics secures its 19th national title, with soccer's fourth being the most of any FSU program.
