TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The No. 4 Florida State soccer team (10-1-2) defeated No. 12 Duke (10-4) 5-1 at the Seminole Soccer Complex Thursday night in Tallahassee. The Seminoles tallied their sixth game with five or more goals to take the lead in ACC conference play with a record of 6-1.
Jody Brown and Jenna Nighswonger led the Seminole offense with seven points combined. Brown tallied her third career game with two goals and sits at second on the team with 17 points. Nighswonger leads with 18 points after three assists on the night. In her seventh season, Clara Robbins has become only the seventh Seminole to appear in 100 games and tallied one assist on the night. Cristina Roque extended her unbeaten career record to 33-0-8, holding the Blue Devils to only one goal with four saves.
Brown earned her fifth goal of the season in the 23rd minute with an assist from Nighswonger. The goal effort started at midfield with a combination between Robbins and Nighswonger. Nighswonger turned and chipped the ball over Duke’s defensive line into Brown’s stride. Brown collected the ball with a touch and then slipped it past the keeper to the left side of the net. The Blue Devils responded four minutes later, getting the final touch on a scramble in the box.
After going into the locker room at halftime with a 1-1 tie, Florida State was hungry for more. Once again, Brown put the Seminoles back on top with a screaming shot to the far side of the net in the 50th minute. Onyi Echegini controlled a 50/50 ball in the midfield before penetrating Duke’s defensive line. Brown made her supporting run down the right side and received the ball from Echegini just inside the 18-yard box. With plenty of time and space, Brown struck the ball in for her second goal of the night.
Four minutes later, Beata Olsson added another goal with her fifth of the season. The Seminoles earned a free kick in the midfield from a Duke foul and Nighswonger stepped up to take it. Nighswonger bent the ball into Olsson, who was wide open in the box. Olsson connected her head to the cross and redirected it in past the keeper.
LeiLanni Nesbeth scored her second goal of the season off a corner kick from Nighswonger. Nighswonger sent the ball in from the left side, causing a scramble among both teams. Nesbeth found just enough space to poke the ball into the goal amongst the chaos in the box.
The final tally for the Seminoles came in the 80th minute from Olivia Garcia. Garcia scored the second header of the night off a cross from Maria Alagoa. Much in the fashion of Olsson’s goal, the play started with a free kick around the same spot. Alagoa and Sophia Nguyen combined on the set piece before Alagoa sent the ball into Garcia in the box. Garcia has tallied three goals on the season so far.
