Mimi Van Zanten and Heather Gilchrist stood in front of a large gathering of Florida State fans and were asked an obvious but very fun question. Now the owners of two national soccer championships, in 2023 and 2025, how are they different?
FSU had to defeat Stanford both times, a stunning 5-1 victory two years ago and then a nail-biting 1-0 win on Monday for the program’s fifth national title. For veterans like Van Zanten and Gilchrist, they can cherish and compare both proud moments.
“Winning 1-0 and winning 5-1 is a little different,” Gilchrist said to laughter from the crowd at Tuesday night’s national championship celebration. “I think it almost felt sweeter in a way because of just all the hard work we put into the game and just fighting until the 87th minute and getting the goal. And then having a few tough moments in the last couple minutes and fighting until the end. It just felt a little sweeter because it felt like we really worked for it.”
Wrianna Hudson was clutch with a pair of goals in the College Cup, leading to FSU’s 1-0 win over TCU in the semifinal and the 1-0 victory over Stanford. But the stabilizing presence was goalkeeper Kate Ockene, who had nine saves in a memorable performance.
“Major shout out to Kate. She came in clutch,” Van Zanten said of the freshman, who received frequent praise throughout the ceremony on Tuesday. “I don’t think the game would have gone the way that it did if it hadn’t been for Kate. The first 15, 20 minutes of the game were pretty intense. We needed some time to reconvene. We changed formations a little bit and it helped us settle in.”
If anything, that’s the storyline of FSU soccer in 2025: The Seminoles competed against a challenging schedule, learned from those lessons and were better because of the losses and ties. Coach Brian Pensky pointed to the challenges of October — a rout of Miami, loss at Notre Dame, loss to Stanford, tie vs. California and then wins over Virginia and Wake Forest — and how it built the Seminoles into what they would become.
But he also reflected on game 3 in August, when FSU traveled to Kansas and left with a surprising 1-1 tie.
“We need to get physically tougher, because Kansas was more physically tough than us that night, we tied the game, but we got out-competed,” Pensky recalled telling the Seminoles. “And when the competition was fierce, we were not emotionally tough, right? And after the game, my message was, ‘We need to get more physically tough and more emotionally tough.’ ”
Pensky reflected on the ups and downs of the schedule, but he underscored how good the Seminoles were down the stretch. It was more than just a perfect 6-0 run through the NCAA Tournament. It was only allowing two goals in those six games.
To navigate their way through the NCAA postseason, and to knock off a Stanford team that scored 96 goals this season only to be shut down by Ockene and FSU’s defenders, the Seminoles had to be physically and emotionally tough.
Pensky stopped himself short of cussing. But after two titles in four years, he’s earned the latitude and his words convey his pride.
“This team is a bunch of bad ass women,” Pensky said to applause from the crowd.
Tuesday night was a celebration of the women, with fans gathering for a traditional spear lighting at the Unconquered statue to honor national champions. And the party continued upstairs in the Champions Club as players, coaches and support staff were joined by an overflow crowd of FSU’s fans.
“Seeing all the support from all of you has been amazing. We work all year for national championships so just to see our dream come true is the best thing we could ever ask for,” Gilchrist said.
Van Zanten said: “It’s been so unreal. The team, the staff, everyone has been so incredible and played such a big role in this national championship.”
Pensky reflected on some of the moments from late Monday night, celebrating with the players in the locker room and on the bus ride back to the hotel. There wasn’t much sleep, with the Seminoles back on a charter plane from Kansas City to Pensky taking the stage at the Champions Club, looking at his iPhone and remarking it was 6:07 p.m. — exactly 24 hours removed from kickoff of the FSU-Stanford game.
Although they were short on sleep, the celebration was a warm hug from the soccer community to the team. These celebrations are becoming more and more common, now a fifth one since 2014, that there is a constant pursuit of championships.
FSU president Dr. Richard McCullough remarked earlier in the night that FSU now has a dynasty in women’s college soccer. But he also recalled some of the coaching candidates didn’t want the responsibility of taking over a program with so many accomplishments when Mark Krikorian opted to leave FSU in the spring of 2022.
But Pensky never wavered in the hiring process. He's adapted, recruited, developed, encouraged and pushed. He was the right coach for the Seminoles, and Pensky now has directed two title runs in his four seasons. And he didn’t waver on Tuesday.
“Like we said this morning in the breakfast room, because the standard is the standard,” Pensky said. “We're already thinking about next year.”
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