FSU Soccer set to open road to College Cup on Friday at home

After winning the ACC Tournament, FSU soccer gets ready to start their latest NCAA tournament run at home against Loyola of Chicago.

It was 19 seasons ago, in the fall of 2000, when the FSU soccer team made program history as the Lady Noles advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever in just their sixth season of play. 19 seasons later, the garnet and gold will continue their streak of tournament appearances that has gone on ever since that time.

Friday night, head coach Mark Krikorian will lead Florida State back onto the field in Tallahassee as one of the top four seeds in the country – fresh off a win over North Carolina for their sixth ACC tournament crown in the last eight seasons. While FSU soccer went just 5-4-1 in conference play this season, the Lady Noles were undefeated in their 11 non-conference games.

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For the garnet and gold, the end goal is simple: make it back to the College Cup for the first time since the 2015 season, which was the end of a five year run of getting that far that included the program’s only national title when they beat conference rival Virginia for the title.

Here’s a look at what to watch for from the Lady Noles and a preview of who they will be facing.

FSU Soccer Players to Watch

Of course, on offense the Lady Noles go through Denya Castellanos. The Venezuelan native is not just one of the best college players, but arguably one of the best female soccer players in the world. For FSU Soccer, she led the team in points and goals this season and is the one player all opponents will be required to try and stop.

Ohio native Kristen McFarland is another name to watch for as she got a goal nearly once every three shot attempts this season. In the net, Brooke Bollinger allowed just nine goals and made 38 saves in the Melbourne, Florida native’s 20 games played this season that added up to over 1808 minutes of action.

First Round Opponent

The Lady Noles will play host to Loyola (IL) on Friday – yes, the same Ramblers who made it to the Final Four of men’s basketball this past season. Loyola won their conference this year and will be making their fourth trip to the tournament – with each previous one ending in a loss.

The teams shared common opponents this season in Wisconsin and Notre Dame – with FSU soccer outscoring both teams a combined 7-0 while the Ramblers lost both contests. This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.

If FSU Soccer Wins

The Lady Noles have just lost twice in the first round all time, so they are pretty confident they can move on but you never know. If they do advance, they will face either the USF Bulls or Albany Great Danes next week at home.

All time, Florida State has an 8-0-1 record against the Bulls with their last meeting coming in the 2010 NCAA Tournament – while a meeting with Albany would be just the fourth one between the schools in ANY SPORT with all three previous meetings being in volleyball.