SANTA CLARA, Calif. (theACC.com) - After spending most of the season as the nation’s top-ranked team, the Florida State Seminoles secured the No. 1 ranking in the last poll of the year by winning the 2021 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer National Championship against BYU Monday night at Stevens Stadium.
Following 120 scoreless minutes of action, the national champion was determined in penalty kicks for the third consecutive year. Thanks to a pair of stellar saves from goalkeeper Cristina Roque, Florida State edged BYU 4-3 in penalty kicks to claim its third national title and the 27th from current ACC membership.
“I thought fans were treated to a high-quality soccer game with two very good teams,” said Seminoles head coach Mark Krikorian. “I thought that BYU gave us everything that we could handle and I’m extremely proud of our group. I thought we played well, played smart, played hard but BYU matched us all along the way.
“Heck of a national championship, Heck of a final. Obviously, [we] came up quite big in the penalties at the end with Cristina [Roque] saving a couple and Yujie [Zhao] burying the final one. So, it feels quite nice to be sitting on this side.”
After both teams made their first penalty kick, Roque stopped the second BYU attempt and then made another terrific diving save on the fourth attempt by the Cougars. With the tally even at three apiece, Yujie Zhao placed a perfect penalty kick in the lower right corner to give the Seminoles the victory.
An ACC team has played in the national championship in each of the last four years with Florida State claiming its second title during that span. The ACC tournament champion has gone on to win the NCAA Women’s College Cup 17 times, with the Seminoles accomplishing the feat in 2018 and 2021.
“Last year, I thought that we were quite good, and we had some unfinished business that we needed to address,” Krikorian added. “I’m proud of the team, the staff. When I think about the time that we've been through last fall, last spring, into this fall and such unprecedented times not knowing exactly how to manage the team. The work that our strength and conditioning staff did, coupled with the medical team and the technical staff and all of the support staff, I think was vital for the success of the team and, of course, administrative support.”
The ACC has had a team in the Women’s College Cup in 39 of the 40 NCAA Tournaments and in each of the past 16 years. The league has 55 appearances in the College Cup - the most of any conference - and current membership combines for 67 appearances.