Florida State women’s soccer wins title rematch over Stanford in thrilling one-score game

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Dec 9, 2025 - 09:30
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Florida State women’s soccer wins title rematch over Stanford in thrilling one-score game

Florida State women’s soccer wins title rematch over Stanford in thrilling one-score gameNot many women’s soccer programs have been more successful than Florida State and Stanford over the past decade. Two months ago, it felt like the schools were barreling toward a national championship rematch when they played a highly contested 2-1 regular-season game.

That came to fruition Monday night after six rounds of tournament soccer. With just three minutes remaining, Wrianna Hudson scored off an assist from Taylor Suarez as Florida State outlasted Stanford 1-0 in the Women’s College Cup Championship at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

This was a much tighter and more competitive contest than the 5-1 Florida State win over Stanford in the 2023 championship match that capped the Seminoles’ undefeated season.

Forward Jordynn Dudley scored in that game and was back on the team this year as a junior and National Player of the Year finalist.

Kate Ockene was only a high schooler when the ‘Noles won in 2023. As a freshman goalie this season, she won eight games and had 21 saves. But Monday night was her crowning moment. She made multiple key saves (nine overall) to keep the game knotted at zero, including an incredible diving stop on a Stanford penalty kick. She was awarded the tournament’s Defensive Most Outstanding player.

“She’s a little animal,” coach Brian Pensky said on the broadcast after the match, according to The Osceola. “She’s the MVP of this match. She kept us in this match. That’s what great goalkeepers have to do.”

The Cardinal outshot the Seminoles 18-8, including six more shots on goal. But Ockene made the difference, stopping a career-high nine shots compared with Stanford goalie Caroline Birkel’s two.

That was the difference Monday night. And now, the Seminoles have re-established themselves as arguably the best program in the nation.

The Seminoles have reached the College Cup in five of the past six years and won the national championship in 2018, 2021, 2023 and 2025. Pensky took over in 2022 from program legend Mark Krikorian and immediately led the Seminoles to an ACC title in his first season.

Since then, he has guided the team to an undefeated national championship run and added another title to the program’s history.

The Seminoles were even more dominant this tournament run, outscoring their opponents 13-2 before the championship game. That happened despite being a No. 3 seed and suffering two losses during the regular season.

One of those losses came against Stanford in October, when the Cardinal scored two first-half goals to secure a critical win. Stanford rode that game to the 2025 ACC regular-season and tournament championships. The Cardinal entered the postseason ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches and TopDrawerSoccer polls.

But Stanford’s offense wasn’t able to capitalize on several scoring chances Monday night. The nation’s best unit, scoring a nation-best 96 goals, was shut out for just the second time all year. Despite winning a majority of the statistical battles, the Cardinal failed to score and have now lost two title games in the past three years.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Florida State Seminoles, Women's Soccer, College Sports

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