Seminole Saturday Summary: FSU Soccer Advances to Round of 16, Women’s Cross Country Notches Best Finish Since 2014

Florida State soccer is four wins away from repeating as national champions. The No. 1 national seed Seminoles advanced on Friday night with a 2-0 win over Brown.

For the second straight match, the lone two FSU goals came from Kristen McFarland. She got the scoring started in the 29th minute before putting the contest away with less than two minutes remaining in the match.

Abbey Newton and Deyna Castellanos each recorded assists for FSU in the victory. FSU dominated with 17 shots to just five for the Bears and nine on goal to just one for Brown. Brown’s lone shot on goal came in the 83rd minute.

The Seminoles will back back in action on Sunday in the Sweet 16 against South Florida. The Bulls beat No. 4 seed Washington on Friday night, 2-0. FSU defeated South Florida 3-1 in the second round of last season’s NCAA Tournament.

FSU’s women’s cross country team notched their best finish at the NCAA Championships since 2014 on Saturday. (FSU athletics)

The 2019 season came to an end for Florida State’s cross country teams on Saturday in Indiana. The FSU women tied their best finish at the NCAA Championships since 2014.

The Seminoles finished 12th on Saturday morning with Jodie Judd having the best day. Judd finished 62nd overall while teammates Maudie Skyring and Rebecca Clark finished 69th and 76th, respectively. FSU finished 26th last year. Arkansas claimed the team national championship with two runners in the top four. New Mexico’s Weini Kelati took the individual title.

The FSU men also improved on last season’s 31st-place finish by coming in 29th on Saturday. Pacing the Florida State men was sophomore Paul Stafford, who finished 71st. The 29th-place finish was the best for FSU since finishing 29th in 2015.

BYU took the men’s team title. Iowa State senior Edwin Kurgat won the individual national championship.

Football

Record: 6-5 (4-4 ACC)
Ranking: None
Past Week: Idle
Upcoming: at Florida (Saturday)
Recognitions: Hamsah Nasirildeen, S (ACC Defensive Back of the Week)
Weekly Commitments: None
2020 Recruiting Class Ranking: No. 18 nationally, fourth in ACC (17 total commitments)*
Big Picture: Florida State got an extra week to prepare for rival Florida. The Seminoles have not lost to the Gators in Gainesville since 2009.

Men’s Basketball

Record: 4-1 (0-1 ACC)
Ranking: None
Past Week: (2-0), defeated Chattanooga, 89-53; defeated Saint Francis, 80-65
Upcoming: vs. Chicago State (Monday, Emerald Coast Classic); vs. Tennessee (Friday, Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville); Virginia Commonwealth or Purdue (Saturday, Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville)
Recognitions: None
Weekly Commitments: None
2020 Recruiting Class Ranking: No. 25 nationally, sixth in ACC (3 total commitments)*
Big Picture: Since a disappointing opener, Florida State has progressed nicely. The Seminoles have won four straight and could be a ranked basketball team come Monday.

Weekly Review

Chattanooga 53, FSU 89
Wednesday, Nov. 20 (Emerald Coast Classic)
Florida State shot 52 percent and forced 16 Chattanooga turnovers to cruise to its easiest victory of the season in an Emerald Coast Classic campus contest. Devin Vassell finished with 17 points and eight rebounds to lead five Seminoles in double-figures. Patrick Williams added 16 points. FSU bigs Malik Osborne, Balsa Koprivica and Dominik Olejniczak all tallied 10 points. David Jean-Baptiste led the Mocs with 15 points on 7-for-13 shooting.

Saint Francis 65, FSU 80
Saturday, Nov. 23
Saint Francis shot 41 percent from deep, but just 38 percent from the field and turned the ball over 21 times against Florida State. FSU led by as many as 22 in the victory. Wyatt Wilkes scored a career-high 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting to lead the Seminoles. Trent Forrest and Balsa Koprivica tallied 13 and 11 points, respectively, for FSU. Myles Thompson shot 9-for-12 from the field and scored a career-high 23 points to pace Saint Francis. Thompson was 4-for-5 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Women’s Basketball

Record: 5-0
Ranking: No. 12 AP Poll; No. 13 USA Today Coaches Poll
Past Week: (2-0), defeated Samford, 88-59; defeated Illinois-Chicago, 86-42
Upcoming: at Florida (Tuesday)
Recognitions: Nausia Woolfolk (ACC Player of the Week)
Big Picture: FSU remained undefeated on the young season with a pair of blowout wins. The Seminoles will play their third road game on Tuesday against rival Florida.

Weekly Review

Samford 59, (12) FSU 88
Sunday, Nov. 17
Florida State shot 50 percent from the field, 9-for-20 from deep and held a 20-rebound edge on the glass over Samford to stay perfect on the young season. Nausia Woolfolk again paced the Seminoles with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Kiah Gillespie added 15 points in the victory while Nicki Ekhomu, Valencia Myers and Morgan Jones all chipped in with 10 points. Sarah Myers and Natalie Armstrong each scored 12 points for the Bulldogs in the loss.

(12) FSU 86, Illinois-Chicago 42
Saturday, Nov. 23
Florida State held Illinois-Chicago to just 26 percent shooting to stay perfect on the young season. The Flames were within two early in the second quarter, but were outscored by 40 points over the final three quarters. Kiah Gillespie and Kourtney Weber each scored 16 points to lead the Seminoles. Nicki Ekhomu and Nausia Woolfolk added 15 and 13 points, respectively. Tylah Lampley scored a game-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting to lead the Flames.

Soccer

Record: 17-5
Ranking: No. 1 seed NCAA Tournament
Past Week: (1-0), defeated Brown, 2-0
Upcoming: vs. South Florida (Sunday, NCAA Tournament Sweet 16)
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: Florida State is four wins away from repeating as national champions after an impressive 2-0 win over Brown on Friday night. FSU will host South Florida on Sunday.

Weekly Review

Brown 0, (1) FSU 2
Friday, Nov. 22 (NCAA Tournament second round)
For the second straight NCAA Tournament match, Florida State won 2-0 and for the second straight match, both goals came off the foot of Kristen McFarland. McFarland scored a goal in each half to send the Seminoles back to the round of 16. Abbey Newton and Deyna Castellanos each added an assist. FSU outshot Brown, 17-5. The Bears’ only shot on goal came in the 83rd minute. Brown goalkeeper Kayla Thompson recorded seven saves in the loss.

Volleyball

Record: 17-9 (10-6 ACC)
Ranking: None
Past Week: (0-2), lost to North Carolina, 3-2; lost at Pittsburgh, 3-1
Upcoming: vs. Duke (Sunday); at Miami (Wednesday)
Recognitions: Madison Sullivan, L (CoSIDA Academic All-District); Taylor Roberts, L (CoSIDA Academic All-District)
Big Picture: The Seminoles had a tough week with two hard-fought losses. FSU will have a chance to finish the regular season strong with winnable matches against Duke on Senior Day and then at Miami.

Weekly Review

North Carolina 3, FSU 2
Sunday, Nov. 17
Florida State blew a 2-set lead in the first match between the schools in Chapel Hill and nearly returned the favor on Sunday, but came up just short in a 5-set loss. The Seminoles led 8-1 in the third set, but could not hold the lead. The Tar Heels clinched the match on an FSU error. North Carolina’s Lauren Harrison and FSU’s Jasmyn Martin led their respective teams with 18 kills apiece. Morgan Chacon added 15 kills and a match-high 19 digs in the loss.

FSU 1, (2) Pittsburgh 3
Friday, Nov. 22
For the second straight match, Florida State was competitive with a good team, but for a second straight match, the Seminoles came up short. After dropping the first set at No. 2 Pittsburgh on Friday night, the Seminoles evened the match with a second-set win before falling 25-19, 25-22 over the final two sets. Chinaza Ndee led the Panthers with a match-high 19 kills. Stephanie Williams and Kayla Lund each added double-doubles for Pittsburgh in the win. Payton Caffrey and Morgan Chacon each paced FSU with 11 kills. Chacon added 16 digs for the Seminoles. Taylor Roberts led FSU with 19 digs.

Cross Country

Ranking: Men No. 4 USTFCCCA South Region; Women No. 9 USTFCCCA, No. 1 USTFCCCA South Region
Past Week: Men finished 29th, women 12th at NCAA Championships
Recognitions: Kelly Phillips (Women’s South Region Coach of the Year)
Big Picture: Florida State wrapped up a solid cross country season on Saturday. Both the men’s and women’s teams improved on last season’s NCAA Championship performances.

Weekly Review

FSU Men 29th, Women 12th at NCAA Championships
Saturday, Nov. 23
Florida State’s women enjoyed their best finish since 2014 and the men their best since 2015 at the NCAA Championships in Indiana on Saturday. The FSU women finished 12th with Jodie Judd, Maudie Skyring and Rebecca Clark all finishing in the top 80. Judd had the best day for Florida State at 62nd. The men finished 29th with Paul Stafford’s 71st-place finish leading the way. Arkansas claimed the women’s national championship while BYU took home the men’s title.

Swimming and Diving

Ranking: Men No. 17 CSCAA
Past Week: FSU participated in the Georgia Tech Invite on Friday and Saturday
Upcoming: Georgia Tech Invite (Sunday)
Recognitions: None
Big Picture: FSU claimed multiple victories through the first two days of the Georgia Tech Invite. It will wrap up its stay in Atlanta on Sunday.

Other News

FSU analyst Mario Edwards Sr. has moved to an on-field assistant role. David Kelly was relieved of his duties.

FSU men’s golf signed the No. 4 recruiting class, according to the Golf Channel.

The Nov. 30 football contest between FSU and Florida will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST and air on SEC Network.

*247Sports Composite rankings

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson. Like The Daily Nole on Facebook. To pitch an idea, author a post or to learn more about The Daily Nole, email Mike Ferguson at Mike@TheDailyNole.com.