The No. 3 Florida State soccer team breezed through its first two games of the season with easy victories over Stetson and Florida International, both of which were on the road.

The Seminoles' third game was the home opener on Thursday at the Seminole Soccer Complex when they welcomed Florida Atlantic. The result was no different. FSU defeated the Owls 3-0 in front of a packed crowd full of students, who start school on Monday, and loyal supporters of the soccer program.

“Obviously still a work in progress, still some of the final third execution not quite there,” FSU coach Brian Pensky said. “I felt the group as a whole were far more connected tonight in their energy and their intentions on the field. We used 19 players and they all played somewhere in the 35-50 minute range, outside of (Sam) Erbach, who had 70 plus. A lot of good minutes and I think you have progress.”

The Seminoles got the scoring started in the 10th minute when Tanner Strickland received a beautiful ball from Anaiyah Robinson that found the back of the net to give the Seminoles an early 1-0 lead. Sam Erbach was also credited with the assist on the goal.

“I don't really know how I got on the left side but I saw her work her butt off to get to the end line and I was like I just got to get on it for her,” Strickland said. “We’ve played three games now, I think we're learning more about each other and I think this game showed we're playing off of each other, we know what each other wants and the next game, we’re just going to keep scoring the goals.”

Florida State headed into the half only up 1-0 but they had command and were in a good place.

The Seminoles wore out the Owls in the second half, with a heavy rotation of players that were active, quick and decisive with their passes. Florida Atlantic could not get anywhere near the goal, let alone get it anywhere close to FSU goalkeeper Kate Ockene.

In the 63rd minute, freshmen forward Ryder Ajeto scored her first goal in front of the home crowd in a regular season game and was assisted by senior midfielder Ashley Henderson to extend FSU’s lead to 2-0.

As the game was winding down in the 82nd minute, FAU scored on their own goal to give FSU a 3-0 lead and the eventual victory. For goalkeeper Kate Ockene, her night was easy as the Owls could only muster one shot on goal.

“Not a lot of action for me but it's always awesome watching my team do amazing,” Ockene said. “Through every game, we’re jelling more and more and it’s so cool to see us become more of a team every single game. Off the field, we’ve gotten a lot closer and obviously living together helps.”

The Seminoles will have little time to celebrate the victory over the Owls, as they will travel down to Gainesville on Sunday to face rival Florida at 2 p.m.

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