The Florida State soccer team (4-1-1) welcomed the Rice Owls on a hot and steamy Sunday afternoon. The temperature reached 93 degrees but down on the field it felt like a soup kitchen.
The Seminoles closed out their non-conference schedule with a tough and gritty game that showed some level of fatigue and defensive mishaps. Nonetheless, the scored ended in a tie 1-1 as FSU now turns toward ACC play.
“Tough game, Rice is a really good team,” goalkeeper Kate Ockene said. “The conditions were really tough out there. It’s super hot, but we put a lot of effort into that game. Unfortunately we tied. The effort and intensity was there.”
The Seminoles were backed by Ockene's stellar performance as the talented sophomore accounted for eight saves on 11 shots, only giving up a goal.
“The saves are so fun and I want to show up for my team the best I can because they show up for me,” Ockene said. “I just wanted to do my part to help the team.”
The Seminoles looked sluggish at times and the defense was shaky at best. Florida State played a late road game in Athens, rallying to defeat Georgia in a weather-delayed game on Thursday and only had a few days of rest while also missing key players due to injury or playing in the U20 World Cup. This type of situation on a hot Sunday is when upsets can happen. They are the equivalent of a midweek college baseball game, weird things can happen.
In the first half, the Seminoles seemed to try and force a lot of the action towards junior forward Wrianna Hudson, but Rice’s defense was suffocating with at least four defenders surrounding her as she pursued the ball.
Rice scored a goal early but it was reviewed and overturned. Senior midfielder Ashley Henderson had a decent shot in the 33rd minute from about 20 yards out. Henderson hit a screamer to the top corner but was saved by Rice goalkeeper Megan Sweeney. Heading into halftime the score was tied at zero, but FSU looked good enough going in halftime that they could pull away with their depth.
In the 12th minute of the second half, freshman forward Ryder Ajeto had a chance, but Sweeney was there to deflect the ball away again. The referees were very busy on Sunday, as they called a total of 17 fouls between both teams, with the Seminoles committing 12, while the Owls accounted for five. Three yellow cards were given out as well, including Florida State head coach Brian Pensky in the 64th minute.
The Seminoles found the net in the 75th minute when Hudson knocked in a header for the goal on a corner kick from junior midfielder Sam Erbach. The momentum had shifted in the game over to Florida State, but Rice fought back and nailed in a goal of their own in the 81st minute to quiet the crowd.
The score would stay the same until the final whistle.
“We battled obviously,” FSU coach Brian Pensky said. “Tough conditions, the game was pretty much what we thought it was going to be in terms of what the problems that Rice was going to present. We have to do a better job of keeping the ball and I said this to our team afterwards. Maybe we put them in a little bit of a tough spot in terms of changing shapes going into today with only really one day of training and preparation because our quality wasn’t consistently good. Gave away some passes we shouldn’t give away, some of our spacing in the front half wasn’t clean, some of the combination stuff obviously wasn’t clean. I think the effort was good and unfortunately couldn't finish it out in the game.”
Coming up
The Seminoles will begin ACC play on Friday at 7 p.m. when they welcome North Carolina State to the Seminole Soccer Complex.
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