RUTGERS WOMEN’S SOCCER SOAR TO COLLEGE CUP SEMIFINAL FOR THE SECOND TIME IN PROGRAM HISTORY

 By: Katerina Loncar

Photo By: Rutgers women's soccer AJ Mast | Rutgers Athletics

In hopes to advance to the College Cup Final, No. 4 Rutgers Women’s Soccer takes on No. 1 Florida State in Santa Clara, California on Friday, December 3rd in the Semifinal.

Rutgers All-American First Team, Senior captain Amirah Ali, plans to lead her team to the College Cup final. Ali has made a major impact for the Rutgers offense with 12 goals and 6 assists going into the semifinal round. Also with the help from All Region First Team Senior captain Frankie Tagliaferri, with her 13 goals and 8 assists, Rutgers will have an explosive offense that will be hard to stop.

Florida State's leading goal scorer for the 2021 season, Sophomore Beata Ollsen, will be a huge weapon for her team’s offense and plan to take the win over Rutgers with her 14 goals and 1 assist. ACC Tournament MVP, Senior Clara Robbins, will help stop Rutgers from pushing forward and also build the attack for Florida State at defensive midfield with her 6 goals and 8 assists. Robbins will also be a key player for Rutgers to watch out for.

The key to a Rutgers win will be shutting down Florida State’s top goal scorer and to play to their strength with their quick transition from defense to offense. Rutgers offensive strategy will be to stay connected with each other and to break defensive lines to get the ball forward quickly. Rutgers' transition game has been a major part of how they score their goals. Florida State will have to focus defensively so that they can stop this powerful Rutgers transition while also looking to get the ball in behind their defense.

"Being able to represent New Jersey in the Final Four is an awesome feeling and a great opportunity for our team. We always talk about Jersey pride, Jersey grit. A lot of people look at it as if they're all local, but we think of it as we're all home…We have the best fanbase in the country and we can't wait to go out to California representing the state, bringing all that pride and grit with us" Senior Meagan McClelland said. 

With a 20-1-2 record, Florida State’s strong defensive and offensive strategy has helped them capitalize on almost all opponents. Ollsen will guide their offense while Senior Robbins will lead their defense to stop Rutgers' attack. Rutgers' strong transition game led by Senior Tagliaferri and Ali will be tough to stop but Rutgers will also have to face Florida’s powerful defense that has only allowed 13 goals this season. 

Top seeded Florida State has a 20-1-2 lead. Their only loss was against Duke in a conference game with a final score of 0-1. Florida has not lost since then.

Rutgers and Florida State have been going strong defensively throughout the season compared to most teams. Rutgers only let up 15 goals in 24 games while Florida State has only led up 13 in 23 games. Both teams will have to go up against very talented players that play well on both sides of the ball.

Over the past four seasons, Rutgers has definitely made a mark and built their way back up to the top by appearing in a College Cup Semifinal for the second time in program history. Florida State has continued to bring to heat and been going strong throughout the years making appearances in the College Cup for multiple occasions. This game is sure to be a very exciting game to watch. Rutgers is hoping to advance to the College Cup Final for the first time in theirutg women’s soccer history while Florida State is looking to get revenge after losing in PK’s to Santa Clara in the College Cup Final last year.

Final: Florida State; 1-0