The No. 4 Florida State soccer team began its national championship defense with a 4-0 win at Stetson on Thursday night in DeLand, Florida.
The Seminoles (1-0-0) scored all four goals in the second half, including the first three in just under 10 minutes, to secure the in-state win over the Hatters (0-1-0) at the Athletic Training Center.
With the victory, FSU extended its unbeaten streak to 34 in regular-season non-conference games, a stretch that began in the middle of the 2019 non-conference season.
Florida State’s first three goals, and all three assists in the contest, were recorded by newcomers. Junior midfielder Sam Erbach netted the season’s first goal in the 58th minute and senior forward Tanner Strickland doubled the score with a penalty kick goal in the 66th minute. Just under two minutes later, senior midfielder Joelle Jung made it 3-0.
Junior midfielder Peyton McGovern scored her first career goal in the 82nd minute for the 4-0 final.
Netting their first goals at Florida State in their debut games, Erbach’s goal is the 30th of her career, and eighth game winner. Strickland scored her fourth career goal and Jung got her ninth. Strickland also had an assist to notch her third career three-point game.
The Seminoles won their third consecutive season-opening contest and are unbeaten in season openers since 2008. FSU is 4-0-1 when opening the year as defending national champions. Four of those five openers that followed an NCAA title have been on the road, with 2019 the lone home exception.
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Thursday night’s win is Florida State’s 10th in the in-state series vs. Stetson. Improving to 10-0-0 all-time vs. SU, FSU is 3-0-0 in DeLand, along with wins in 1998 and 2009. All but one game has been a Seminole shutout, while the 4-0 triumph is the sixth time the Garnet and Gold have scored at least four goals. It matches FSU’s largest margin of victory on the road in the series.
Florida State out-shot Stetson 18-2 with a 13-2 advantage in shots on goal. Corner kicks were 2-1 to the visitors, and the Hatters had 10 fouls to the Seminoles’ seven.
Junior forward Wrianna Hudson had a game-high four shots, all on goal. Erbach and McGovern both had two shots, both on goal, and Jung also had two shots in the win. Sophomore goalkeeper Kate Ockene stopped both shots she faced to earn her sixth career clean sheet, all in the last eight games dating back to the end of the 2025 season.
Twenty-two players saw action in the win, all but three for at least 36 minutes and no one except Ockene for more than 62.
Stetson’s goalkeeper made nine saves. Six came in the first half to keep it a goalless game through the first 57-plus minutes.
Florida State had several good chances in the opening 15 minutes, as freshman forward Ryder Ajeto had a shot saved at the far post in the 11th minute and Wrianna Hudson had a pair of chances stopped four minutes later. Hudson beat a defender for the first shot and the next was from the top of the six off a pass from sophomore midfielder Nyanya Touray.
Two minutes later, freshman defender Bridget Mutipula made a great tackle inside the penalty area to prevent Stetson’s first shot of the game.
Hudson had another shot that was stopped in the 25th minute, and the Hatter keeper made two more saves in the 33rd minute, first off the foot of senior forward Nyah Rose and the second from Erbach, who got to the rebound.
Ockene’s first save came in the final seconds of the first half to preserve the goalless game after 45 minutes.
FSU held a 7-1 advantage in shots and six shots on goal to SU’s one in the first half. Both teams earned a corner kick and had four fouls.
The Seminoles scored their first goal of 2026 at 57:56 off the foot of Erbach. The visitors had possession in the penalty area but could not get a clean shot off before Stetson attempted to clear. FSU regained possession at the corner of the 18-yard box near the end line. Senior defender Olivia Page centered the ball to Erbach to the left of the penalty spot, where she fired a shot past the keeper to the far post for the 1-0 lead.
Strickland converted a penalty kick at 65:39 to double the lead. She was the one who drew the foul at the edge of the box, and she then buried the penalty.
Less than two minutes later, at 67:33, Jung found the back of the net to turn the lead to 3-0. Strickland passed the ball to senior midfielder Ashley Henderson at the top of the penalty arc, who found Jung inside the 18 near the left corner of the goal box. Jung then scored her first as a Seminole to the far post.
McGovern made it 4-0 at 81:45 from distance. She got the ball just outside the center circle, dribbled to the top of the penalty arc and fired a 25-yard shot to the left post under the arms of a diving Stetson keeper.
As they all got their first FSU assists, Page posted the fifth of her career and Henderson’s was her 14th. Strickland posted her 13th to complete the three-point night.
In the second half, FSU out-shot SU 11-1 with a 7-1 advantage in shots on goal. The visitors had the only corner of the final 45 minutes and fouls were 6-3 to Stetson.
Up next
Florida State continues its season-opening roadtrip at FIU on Sunday. Kickoff in Miami is slated for 6 p.m. ET. (live stream on ESPN+).
