TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The No. 5 Florida State soccer team (11-2-2) hosts Virginia Tech (10-5-2) on Thursday night at 7 p.m. on ACCNX. The Seminoles will honor their three seniors – Jenna Nighswonger, Heather Payne and Clara Robbins before the game.
The Seminoles are coming off a 1-0 win over No. 20 Pitt in Pittsburgh. LeiLanni Nesbeth scored the game’s only goal in the 67th minute.
FLORIDA STATE VS. VIRGINIA TECH
Thursday’s meeting between the Seminoles and the Hokies marks the 23rd all-time meeting between the two schools. Florida State holds a 20-0-2 lead in the series with a 7-0 record in Tallahassee
The last time the two teams met was in Blacksburg a season ago, resulting in a 2-0 FSU win.
Florida State’s first goal came in the 31st minute from Beata Olsson with assists from Yujie Zhao and Gabby Carle. Carle then assisted on the game’s second and final goal scored in the 70th minute by Jaelin Howell.
HOME SWEET HOME
Florida State is 186-16-11 (.899) at home since 2005.
The Noles are 117-8-8 (.910) in their last 133 matches played at home, dating back to 2011. FSU has 42 wins over ranked opponents during that time.
Florida State finished the 2021 season 12-0-1 and unbeaten at home for the 10th time since 2005.
Jenna Nighswonger
Jenna is wrapping up her fourth and final season at Florida State. She has played in 79 games, starting in 49 of them during her time at FSU. She has 17 career goals and 29 career assists, totaling 63 total points in her four-year career. Jenna’s 63 points put her in 16th all-time in total points at Florida State. In 2019 she was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team and in 2020 she was named to the All-ACC Third Team and to the College Cup All-Tournament Team. Last season Jenna helped lead the Seminoles to their third National Championship. She played in 151 minutes during the college cup, starting in the National Championship game. Jenna is graduating with a degree in finance.
Heather Payne
Heather is wrapping up her fourth and final season at Florida State. She has played in 53 games, starting in 35 of them. As a freshman, she started and played in all 20 games. In her time at FSU, she has scored four goals and assisted on five others from her defensive position. Heather has played on the FSU defense during 29 shutouts out of the 53 games she has played in. As a freshman in 2019, she was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team. Heather played 147 minutes during the College Cup last season during FSU’s run to the 2021 national championship. She is graduating with a degree in Dietetics.
Clara Robbins
Clara is wrapping up her seventh season in Tallahassee. She has played in 103 games during her time at Florida State and is one game shy of tying the FSU record for the most games played. Clara has started in 81 of the 103 games she has played in and has scored 15 goals while assisting on 23 others. She is a two-time member of the All-ACC second team and a two-time ACC tournament MVP. Clara has been a part of four ACC Championships and two National Championships in her time at Florida State. She is finishing up her Athletic Coaching certificate after graduating with an undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology.
