No. 4 Florida State women's soccer, the defending national champions, defeated Stetson University 4-0 in its first game of the season on Thursday in DeLand, FL.
Florida State (1-0-0), is now 10-0 all time versus the Hatters, with nine of those wins being shutouts. The win also extends Florida State's regular season non conference win streak to 34 games.
Florida State hired coach Brian Pensky in 2022, and since then, the Seminoles have had the highest winning percentage (.854) in the nation. They also rank No. 2 with 71 wins in that same span.
Florida State returned five players with starting experience from their national title season in 2025. Head coach Brian Pensky brought in 16 new players including 11 portal transfers, four high school players, and one junior college player
Head coach Brian Pensky lost 14 players from last year's team. Ten players play in the NWSL or overseas, and four players hit the transfer portal. Pensky has already benefited as his transfer portal players were responsible for most of the goals and assists against Stetson.
The first half of the match was scoreless. Stetson's goalie, Clare Boesel recorded six saves in the first half, and finished with a career high nine saves for the game.Florida State had six shots on goal in the first half compared to Stetson’s one shot.
Florida State scored its first three goals within ten minutes of each other. Florida State struck first near the 58th minute when senior defender Sam Erbach scored. Senior forward Tanner Strickland scored on a penalty kick at the 66th minute. Senior midfielder Joelle Jung scored at the 68th minute with assists from Ashley Henderson and Strickland.
Junior midfielder Peyton McGovern scored the final blow at the 82nd minute, scoring from 25 yards away.
Florida State outshot Steteson 11-1 in the second half.
Florida State will now travel to Miami, FL to play their second game of the season against Florida International University. FIU finished 7-6-4 in 2025, and 4-3-1 in Conference USA.
FIU returns 10 players from last year's team including senior goalkeeper Valery Restrepo who is a 3 year starter and is coming off career high 57 saves and a 76% save percentage in 2025. FIU also returns Roxy Brewer who was CUSA All-Conference and a member of the 2025 All-Freshman Team.
Florida State at FIU will be played August 16 at FIU Soccer Stadium with a 6:00 p.m. kickoff. The game will stream on ESPN+.