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Florida State (15-5, #5 coaches, #4 RPI) has earned a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season. The #1 seed is important for more than just bragging rights as it ensures that the Seminoles will get the benefit of playing at home for all of the tournament games until the College Cup (Final Four) which will be held this year in San Jose, CA.
The Tournament bracket reveals that #2 UCLA, #3 Wisconsin and #4 Washington are the other seeds in the Florida State region. The other three #1 seeds are North Carolina, Virginia and Stanford. A total of nine ACC teams made the Tournament which is the most of any conference. If the Noles make it to the College Cup, which would be their seventh appearance since 2011, they would meet the Cardinal in the national semi-final.
Florida State’s first round opponent will be the South Alabama Jaguars (16-3-2). The game will kickoff at 6pm on Saturday and will be played at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
Soccer News
Florida State has secured the commitment of 4* midfielder Jody Brown from Jamaica by way of Montverde Academy where she is a classmate of FSU basketball commit Scottie Barnes. Brown has already earned 14 caps for Jamaica and she represented her home country at this year’s Women’s World Cup where she started all three games that the Raggae Girlz played. Brown joins 3* forward Lauren Flynn and 3* midfielder Kaitlyn Zipay in FSU’s 2020 class.
In other commitment news, 3* defender Taya Hjorth (Walled Lake, MI) announced her commitment to Florida State today. Hjorth will join 3* forward Sierra Curtis, 4* forward Amelia Horton, and 4* defender Alyssa Stadeker in FSU’s 2021 class.
Olivia Smith (Whitby, Ontario, Canada) earned her first cap for the Canadian Senior National team last Thursday. She played alongside current Seminole Gabby Carle for the Canadians in the Four Nations Cup. At 15 years and 94 days the midfielder is the youngest player to ever play in a senior national game for Canada. Smith is a midfielder who will join Summer Denigan and Olivia Lebdaoui in the 2022 class at FSU.