2021 with its ups and downs really highlighted how incredibly difficult it is to win a natty! I was quite sure UVA would make the CC and play us again. I knew UNC would win at least a couple of games in the NCAA. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had made the CC. There was no way that Santa Clara who started out 3-4-2, would make the CC. Without a few incredible saves by Cristina Roque, we may not make the CC. It takes skill, talent, teamwork, great coaching and a little luck here and there. We deserved it and are a worthy 3 x national champion. There is no guarantee if and when it will happen again, but as long as Mark Krikorian is prowling the sidelines, I feel like our chances are good. He is the best coach in the NCAA currently. Anson Dorrance historically is the best by a long shot! Mark has been at FSU for 17 years and has been to 11 Final Fours. Wow! The early years for Mark and FSU were about over achieving b/c we didn't match up talent wise with UNC, UVA etc. We have been able to go toe to toe with them the last 8-10 years or so. He has led us to 8 of the past 11 ACCT titles. As some point out, luck plays a part. That is true. The math of Mark Krikorian paints a picture of superior coaching. We are indeed blessed. On to 22. We lose Howell, Carle and Mitchell. That leaves, Roque and Justus in goal. Pavlisko, Madril and Flynn on the back line, The midfield returns Nighswonger, Robbins, Lynch, Payne, Zhao, Bissell, Alagoa, Zipay, Horton and Iwai. We have Brown and Olsson up top. We have 7 known commitments. The only one I know much about is Olivia Smith who had a brief call-up to the Canadian NT. She is a stud. The others may be, I just don't know. Robbins and Flynn were overlooked and under rated gems Mark picked up from Virginia. What we don't know is who may transfer out and who may transfer in. I'm speculating here, but recruiting both high schoolers and transfers has to get easier doesn't it? I'm still enjoying natty #3, but wouldn't it be great to be the first team not named UNC to get 4 nattys? ps Most improved player has to go to Flynn. Early in the season she scared me both with her defense and her passing. By the end, she was becoming a wall and a defensive star with improving offensive forays!
Totally agree on Flynn. She was getting beat on runs into the box early in the year and it was hard to tell how she’d hold up under pressure since they faced it so rarely. Wow did she shine in the tournament. She’s great at dealing with long balls coming in and has improved in tracking runs into the box. I think the runs forward were always there, Madril is just the far preferred option if one is going to go forward but that wasn’t an option often with the formation Mark chose for the final. She does fine going forward, but not a unique strength. She’s gotta work on refining her passing. Hangs her teammates out to dry with poorly placed or weighted passes too often. She greatly exceeded my expectations in that final tho. Her body language has changed, too… not flailing around as much. Growing into the position. Great to see. I like the chances next year — not necessarily the favorite to win the whole thing like the last couple years — but a typical Krikorian season of get yourself a final four caliber team and see what happens. Or as he told Lonni Alameda years ago “it’s not the team you expect that will win you a title.” Curious to see what Mark does with the line up. One thing I appreciate from him the last couple years, everything up until the elite eight or so is just for development and figuring out what he has in different positions. Payne or Iwai at LB? Payne or Robbins or ??? at DMC?
Do you think you can hang onto both keepers with as much eligibility as they both have left? I love Roque!!! Is Justus going to be ok sharing or taking a backseat like she did down the stretch this year? These are just honest questions. I have zero insight. I have really only watched your team closely this year.
Good question and I don't know. Frankly, I'm surprised that Madril, Zhao and Robbins elected to come back. Most players are ready to go when their 4 or 5 year clock runs out. I'm sure a couple of players will transfer out for more playing time, but I can't tell you who. I'm also quite sure, that if he so desires, we may get a transfer or two. IMO these young women who chose to come back are making a wise decision if they use it to advance their academic degrees and in many/some cases advanced degrees, because at this time pro soccer is not all that lucrative and it has a relatively short shelf life. A Masters degree or the beginnings of a Doctorate can reap you rewards for life!
I actually liked the way the staff handled the goalkeepers during the season - splitting games. Pretty smart way to approach it IMO. Have to think that the players who could opt to leave would be: Payne - She's going to get more and more run with the national team and to be based in the UK or Ireland as a pro might be more attractive to her. Zipay - I know she's coming back from an injury but she might want to be a starter somewhere. Hjorth - she might be the only player who wasn't injured (or was she?) who didn't see the field the whole season. Could be Bogren part two?
Just my opinion but I keep Payne in the midfield or even move her up top. I Might move Robbins To holding midfielder in place of Howell. I’d try Iwai or Zipay in Carle’s place. That girl from Canada is going to demand some playing time. We also have Horton who might work well in that Fullback position
Victory your list does not include Olivia Smith from Canada. A respected poster from the North Carolina thread who apparently has seen her thinks she might be the best recruit in the coming class. If not, she is at least very high level. She has debuted on the full national team for Canada
No problem. I got my list from Tod Drawer. Of course they almost never have international players, other than Canada. We all know MK may have a couple of those.
On a side note, Yujie Zhao has a chance to set a record that likely will never be broken. She can become a 5 time 1st team All-ACC player. I'm not even sure how many 4 time All-ACC 1st teamers there have been. I'm sure UNC has had a few!
https://www.tomahawknation.com/flor...fsu-ireland-world-cup-canada-college#comments Good write-up as always by PAJ
Sierra Curtis has transferred to MIch St and Taya Hjorth to Kentucky. I'm wondering about Megan Morgan and Alyssa Stadeker. AS may elect to stay because we will lose Madril and Pavlisko after this coming year. Good question about players like Zipay. We are stacked again this coming year, although there are holes to fill. Every team faces that every year essentially. Heather Gilchrist and Summer Denigan are the other 2 (Olivia Smith) incoming recruits ranked as 4 stars. Maybe one of them will shine or even one of the 3 star recruits will be the next Lauren Flynn, who I believe was a 3 star recruit. Next year is a long time coming. Maybe someone here will give us some insight from the spring schedule and practices.
Good luck to Sierra and Taya. Neither transfer is a surprise as neither player played this year. In fact, Sierra was not listed on the roster. Alyssa may be a different story. I haven't talked to her so I'm not sure but she did play a little bit this year so she may be more in the plans of the staff going forward. We will see.
Regarding transfers let's discuss a few questions people may have. This is all speculation on my part ( I haven't discussed it with the staff) but it is informed speculation. I would be surprised if FSU brought in a transfer from another school. The Noles do have a couple of holes to fill but I am fairly confident that Mark believes that he has the answers to fill those holes with players currently on the roster. Also, FSU currently has 26 players on next year's roster assuming that no one else transfers out and the entire recruiting class makes it to Tallahassee. That is about as high as Mark usually wants to go roster-wise. He doesn't like bloated rosters. There could be one or two more players who transfer out (Megan Morgan is the most likely) but remember that FSU rarely if ever loses a player through transfer who would play more than 20 minutes a game in the upcoming season. That rule will almost certainly hold this year unless Mia Justus decides that she wants to be the #1 GK and isn't satisfied with splitting time with Cristina Roque.
Your logic is spot-on. I'll speculate a little b/c Mark almost always has an international recruit that we know not of. Smith coming in should take some time away from some other midfielders. Will one transfer out to be the starter elsewhere? Lynch saw her time decline at the end of the year. What about Zipay or even Iwai? Competition for time will be fierce IMO. If more playing time is a key factor, a transfer is more likely. If learning and competing in a professional environment against the best players in collegiate women's soccer is more important, then probably not.
I haven't talked with any of these players so I don't know for sure but I would be surprised if Lynch or Iwai transferred. Like I said before, FSU rarely if ever loses a player through transfer who would play more than 20 minutes a game in the upcoming season. Both Iwai and Lynch fit that profile. In fact, either could be a starter if they have a good Spring camp. Zipay is different. She was really starting to come on before her injury but we haven't seen much of her since. Whether she stays will probably come down to how well she is progressing from the injury. We know that based on pure talent she is good enough to get minutes at FSU.
Well, I have a theory, that will take a few years to bear out. My theory is that FSU should start showing more domestic recruiting success going forward. We've always taken a back seat to the blue bloods in domestic recruiting. Mark has always made up the difference with internationals and just excellent coaching. The 22 recruiting class is an example. 7 recruits including only 3 4 stars per TDS. The highest one is ranked 91 per TDS. The 23 class which witnessed our runnerup finish and the early 21 success has 5 commitments including 2 in the top 10 and another ranked ?27 and a 4th ranked 63. Only one 3 star. I may be reading too much into it, but I have to believe at some point the sustained success will translate to more domestic blue chips. I also think that applies to transfers going forward. JMHO. Cheyna Williams was a transfer that helped us get our first natty. Beata Olsson certainly was a key piece in this year's success. Hey it's off season, and I'm anxiously awaiting spring news!
Doesn’t Florida state have some program with their school that encourages internationals? I think the program pays a large chunk of an internationals tuition if they come to Florida state. This makes it where mark only has to use 50% soccer money to get an international kid in. If true, that’s why he has so many internationals. Way cheaper than bringing in the top US kid. The top US kid will cost a full ride. The top international only cost 50%.
I’m not aware of any such program. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, just that I’m not aware of it. Mark Krikorian had a history of recruiting internationals even before he came to FSU. I think his success with internationals has allowed him to have more success. Those foreign national team coaches know that their playersWill get an education, and more importantly to them come back better soccer players! Also soccer is a partial scholarship sport, so I don’t think many players get full rides!
Soccer is not a partial scholarship sport. It’s an equivalency sport. Teams have the equivalent of 14 scholarships but can split it up however they want. There are tons of kids on full rides.
I used the wrong term, but the point remains. The average team has what? 25-30 players with only 14 scholarships to divide up. I don’t know how many of them are usually full rides. Maybe you have some insight to share on this. How do these kids on partial ships afford the expensive private schools?
I don’t have any insight but i would imagine Florida state actually has more kids on full scholarship than most programs. I don’t know for sure about the 50% for internationals but i promise those kids aren’t paying for school regardless rather that money comes from the soccer money or school money. They are on a full at the end of the day. Also probably why Mark has a smaller roster than most teams. He probably spends most of the money on fulls which doesn’t give him the room to offer small amounts to a lot of players to get a bigger roster. I’m sure he could find more kids willing to walk on but they aren’t at the level he wants so he chooses to have a small roster. *all speculation and i have no insights. Just a guess
@Wildcatter I don't think so. Having gone through the recruiting process in Florida with our girl, Mark was in the process of moving to an equity-based program. It was well known that some athletes you would expect to be on full rides- were not, while some support players were receiving more. As you can guess, some have accepted it and some hate it. It's also relevant to point out that Florida has a Bright Futures program that provides Florida residents (with the grades) with a large chunk of tuition. With 6 of the 25 as Florida residents, theres a good chance that Bright Futures funds a lot of that tuition. (And I know I'm 'new' here, I've been lurking for a long time ;-) )
'Splitting time' is over imo. Roque proved herself to be the better goalkeeper, so I can't imagine Mark doing anything but continuing to play her when it matters, no matter what kind of scholarship or how many USYNT teams Justice gets called into.