Florida State Soccer Advances to Sweet Sixteen

For the second straight game the No. 1 seeded Florida State women's soccer team rode a second half surge to victory, this time defeating Northeastern 3-0 inside the Seminole Soccer Complex.

The Seminoles used precision passing and ball control to dictate the pace of the game as the visiting Huskies never seemed able to get a firm grasp of much possession for any stretch of the game. On the night FSU outshot Northeastern 16-4 and won the corner kick battle 7-2.

"I thought our kids were very resilient, played well and created some great chances", head coach Mark Krikorian said.

Florida State immediately put the pressure on Northeastern in the first half as Cheyna Williams scored her 10th goal of the season putting FSU ahead 1-0 in the 18th minute. The junior transfer from Vanderbilt beat a pair of Husky defenders down the left side of the box with her pace, before calmly slotting the ball past the keeper from 10 yards out.

"It helped us to settle in and we talk about patience in their half of the field and the goal puts a lot of pressure on the other team", Williams said.

Williams was dangerous all night using a blend of speed and power to race past Northeastern defenders throughout the game, helping her team create seven shots on goal.

"Cheyna was a handful tonight and really has been all year, she's really come on as the season has continued", Krikorian said.

With a 1-0 halftime lead the Seminoles seemed eager to push the margin to a wider distance as they started the second half. Florida State scored two goals in a span of one minute and twenty seconds to put the match out of reach for the Huskies. Kristen Crowley's goal in the 54th minute pushed the Seminole lead to two as she corralled a free kick from Megan Campbell before firing a shot from 15 yards to extend the score. The goal was Crowley first goal of the season and first in over a year for FSU. Dagny Brynjarsdottir's goal one minute later, a sliding shot from seven yards out, capped the scoring for the night as the Seminoles would finish the game winning 3-0.

"It was really important to come out and score two goals in the second half to build our confidence and take their's away", Crowley said.

The win sends Florida State to the Sweet 16 for the 10th straight season, its 13th overall as a program. The Noles have advanced to that stage in every season under Mark Krikorian's ten year tenure at Florida State. The win moved FSU to 20-1-1 on the season while Northeastern ended their's at 15-5-3. Florida State will now host the UCF Knights (18-4-0), who defeated Wisconsin 3-2 earlier in the day at the Seminole Soccer Complex. The Knights and Noles will face off on Sunday at 1 PM, once again taking place in Tallahassee.