FSU women’s soccer: Noles advance past Duke on penalty kicks

No. 1 seed FSU women’s soccer needed double overtime and penalty kicks (5-3) to advance past No. 9 Duke.

The Duke win catapults FSU women’s soccer to the College Cup Semifinals. FSU had beaten the Blue Devils twice during the regular season via scores of 1-0 and 4-0.

The game was dominated by the Noles, as they had eight shots on goal and 14 shots overall, compared to two shots and zero shots on goal for Duke.

FSU women’s soccer had nine corner kicks, with Duke only managing one in the entire contest.

Duke was defensive during the game, with the Noles creating heavy pressure, especially in the second half. It became clear Duke was content with packing it in defensively and trying to get the game to penalty kicks after surviving two overtime periods.

It was a smart play as the Noles had several chances to score throughout the contest. Duke’s goalkeeper made a couple of solid saves as well.

Anything can happen once play gets to penalty kicks, however, FSU kept applying pressure by making their first penalty kick.

FSU’s goalkeeper came up big and saved Duke’s first penalty kick, which put the pressure on Duke the rest of the way. FSU connected on all five of their penalty kicks, with the save on Duke’s first penalty kick serving as the difference.

The College Cup could feature an All-ACC matchup as North Carolina has already won their match. FSU women’s soccer defeated UNC 3-2 in the ACC Championship game.

Clemson will take on Santa Clara later Sunday for a chance to advance. FSU women’s soccer shut them out 2-0 earlier in the season.

FSU women’s soccer will be in action Thursday against the winner of TCU and Virginia, who will play Sunday at 5 p.m. ET. The Noles defeated Virginia 4-3 earlier in the season if it’s an All-ACC matchup.