Florida State opens the 2026 regular season at Stetson on Thursday at 7 p.m. (live stream on ESPN+) and will continue the road trip with a match at Florida International on Sunday at 6 p.m. (ESPN+). Below are notes and players to watch with a new-look roster this fall.

Coach: Brian Pensky is 70-7-12 (.854) as he enters his fifth season at FSU. Pensky has a 255-118-57 career mark in 21 seasons.

2025 record: 16-2-4. FSU won the program’s fifth national title in December (the Seminoles also won titles in 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2023).

Preseason rankings: FSU is ranked fourth in the national coaches’ poll (behind Stanford, Notre Dame and Duke). The Seminoles were also picked to finish fourth in the preseason ACC coaches’ poll (behind Notre Dame, Stanford and Duke).

Preseason All-ACC selections: Junior forward Wrianna Hudson (five game-winning goals in 2025), junior defender Janey Okeke (helped secure 13 shutouts last fall) and sophomore midfielder Nyanya Touray (two goals, two assists in 2026).

Keeper: Kate Ockene returns for his sophomore season. She went 9-0-3 as a freshman, recording 30 saves and allowed just eight goals in 1,070 minutes.

New additions to watch: Xavier transfer Sam Erbach, Memphis transfer Ashley Henderson, SMU transfer Nyah Rose.

Home opener: FSU plays host to Florida Atlantic on August. 20 (7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra).

Top home games: North Carolina (Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. on ESPNU), Notre Dame (Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. on ACC Network Extra), Duke (Oct. 29 at 8 p.m. on ACC Network).

Best road games: Florida (Aug. 23 at 2 p.m. on SEC Network), at Georgia (6:30 p.m. on ESPNU), at Clemson (Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m. on ACC Network), at Wake Forest (Oct. 15 at 6 p.m. on ACC Network).

Famous dads: Kai Price’s dad is former Tennessee receiver Peerless Price. Tanner Strickland’s dad is former NBA guard Rod Strickland.

Notes: FSU has a 492-165-62 all-time record since launching the program in 1995. … The Seminoles have reached the NCAA Tournament each season since 2000. … FSU has 21 players from the U.S., three from Canada, two from Brazil, two from England and one from Jamaica.

On TV / streaming: Eight games are set for broadcast on network TV. Other league home and road games will stream on ACC Network Extra.

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