It was a tough way to end the season, but A&M played about as well as could be expected considering the opponent and the game plan. The A&M defense held strong for most of the match, continually frustrating FSU forwards with our physicality and speed on the edges. And Caldwell finished her career with another solid game, making a few great saves to keep her team in the game in the second half.
FSU's vaunted second half surge happened but it was stymied for the most part, until a moment of individual brilliance by Jordynn Dudley, who steadied a long ball with her foot, then headed it twice to herself on the run into the box and calmly finished it for the winning goal was maybe the single greatest goal I've ever seen by a collegiate women's soccer player. If you want to know the main reason FSU is advancing and A&M is not, players like Dudley (the freshman of the year nationally) are signing with FSU and not A&M. To move beyond the 2nd/Sweet 16 rounds, Coach G must start landing these type of difference makers in front of goal.
Tonight, as has been the problem over the last 3 seasons, A&M could not finish easy chances in front of goal. Mia Pante, who was our most dangerous player tonight, headed a ball that deflected off the crossbar that would have given us a 1-0 lead and the momentum in the first half. Then in the second half, Boeckmann missed a wide-open shot from 6 yards out that was pushed wide by the GK. And finally, Sammy Smith missed a header in front of goal that the GK pushed over the top to save the game from going to OT. Those are 3 golden chances, that if any are converted, the game is probably decided in PKs.
Unfortunately, the midfield was ineffective as expected and couldn't hold any extended possession against FSU, who dominated most of the play throughout the match. A&M was relegated to kicking the ball long from the back line to the forwards and hoping for a counter attacking opportunity. There were times when this strategy worked, especially in the first half, when A&M had outshot FSU 4-0 at one point. But again, no one could finish in front of goal. There also were a few turnovers by FSU in the midfield that I thought should have resulted in scoring chances for us, but the midfield couldn't effectively setup the passes needed for those shots. But A&M stayed in the game because it forced FSU to hold possession in wide parts of the field and not in front of goal, and the few times they got the ball in front of the box, they were quickly shutdown by the defense.
The backline was stellar for the most part, with Margo Matula having her best game this season. She was everywhere and made several key tackles to keep FSU off the board. Calzada also had a very good game, running down FSU's vaunted forwards and blocking their attempts throughout the match. One of FSU's forwards was visibly frustrated and complained to the referee the entire match when she couldn't get past Calzada. FSU was held to 1 goal for only the second time this season. The good news is that we return everyone next year and we add the injured Bella James, so I expect this will be a very good unit again.
A&M did improve in the last few weeks of the season, especially after the historic loss against Vandy, but if we had taken care of business earlier in the season by finishing chances in front of goal, we are not playing FSU in the second round and probably in the Sweet 16 right now. So overall the season will be considered acceptable after what happened the last 2 years, but we were also very close to missing the tourney altogether. 2024 needs to be a step forward for the program, so with the amount of turnover to the roster (graduation and a few other transfers), it will be critical for the coaches to add a few elite players from the portal, especially in the midfield and a dependable striker. The incoming freshmen will probably not make a huge impact unless the evals are better than expected (I'm anxious to see the late addition Jaime Perrault though). There could be some other losses like Hayes (who didn't play tonight due to injury) and maybe a few others as well. So, 2024 will be a critical season for Coach G to show that the program is not stagnant or continuing to slowly decline. This season stopped the bleeding, but now we need to take a step forward next year.
