2024 was obviously a very good season that fell short of great. Winning the ACCCG again was quite an accomplishment considering all the losses from the 23 natty squad and the missed games of many players due to injury and U20 time away. Soccer is a fickle game, perhaps more than most, in that the obvious better team (subjective I know) can lose unexpectedly. It happens annually to some really really good teams. Here's to hoping that doesn't happen to FSU in 25. I'll start by listing returning players and then recruits and transfers to the best of my knowledge. Feel free to correct any inaccuracies. The following list of returning players comes with an asterisk, as 1 or more could elect to either transfer or go pro. I'll number them due to the new rule about max roster size of 28 full scholarships. These numbers do not correspond with their jersey numbers 1. Addie Todd GK RSo 2. Giana Riley F Sr 3. Lara Danta MF So 4. Taylor Suarez MF/F So 5. Peyton Nourse MF Jr 6. Jordynn Dudley F Jr 7. Nina Norshie D Sr 8. Peyton McGovern MF So 9. Sophia Nguyen D Sr 10. Mimi Van Zanten D Jr 11. Kameron Simmonds F/D Sr 12. Heather Gilchrist D Sr 13. Claire Rain D RS Sr (She's a candidate for a 6th year if she wants due to 2 years of injury time) 14. Solai Washington F So 15. Ashlyn Puerta MF So 16. Wrianna Hudson F So Signees 17. Evan O'Steen GK Fr reclassified from 26 top ranked GK 18. Micayla Johnson F Fr 19. Nyanya Touray F Fr 20. Kate Ockene GK Fr 21. Kai Price D Fr 22. Nawreen Ahmad D Fr 23. Jaida McGrew F Fr 24. Mya Brandon D Fr Transfers 25. Yuna McCormack MF So UVA 26. Janet Okeke D So NCSt 27. Erin Flurey F RSSr Syracuse This is obviously a roster capable of competing for the natty. We'll see! If my player accounting is correct, we are one short of a full roster per NCAA. As stated before, early defections to the pros or transfers could still happen. Any further insight or corrections any of you may have would be greatly appreciated.
I thought Riley and Simmons were out of eligibility. Feeling better already. Fingers crossed Dudley stays for another year. My money was on her staying for two years… we’ll see.
Indeed, portal to texas State. I hadn't seen this: 𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒆𝒅 ✍️Welcome to the Bobcat family, Nina Norshie!⚽️ Defender🇬🇭 Women's Senior National Team🏫 Florida State⭐️ NJCAA All-American#EatEmUp pic.twitter.com/7cBeSxG02f— Texas State Soccer (@TXStateSoccer) December 16, 2024
I'll admit I don't know much about US college soccer: the fact that Ran Iwai is out injured keeps her out of the roster for good?
She played the majority of the year before she was injured, so she has no options to come back and play at FSU. She did graduate and has employment options or options to play soccer in a pro league somewhere.
the game against Vandy seems to have brought out some extreme opinions like what Florida State is doing will not work going forward or if you sign too much talent everyone will transfer etc. In reality your job is to stack talent, especially in this era. The times of MK are over and not because BP is necessarily worse but the times have simply changed. There is so much roster turnover now from year to year, everyone can basically leave at any time and there is no guarantee even that the players you sign, will ever play for you. The only chance to combat is to sign as many good players out of HS and the portal as you can. And I don't even think FSU was ever the best team in the country this season but also the game against Vanderbilt was probably one of the biggest upsets and flukes in history. Vandy got outplayed by a significant margin. It just showed these type of games can happen to anyone and certainly to teams who do not have an AA goalkeeper. Nevertheless it certainly wasn't a bad season for a team who did have lots of struggles to ever build a cohesive unit with players missing and also just being a young team. The NCAA tournament proved that this is a very competitive sport and margins decide when your season ends. This was a season where FSU ultimately was not able to overcome all the obstacles they faced but that some people now make signing difference makers from the transfer portal as a negative does not make sense. I would even argue FSU not signing difference makers from the transfer portal last season was a reason they did not ever look like a truly great team. And saying a team has too much players without even knowing who leaves until the start of the season seems odd as well.
Good points The XG and (post shot xg ) for FSU vs Vandy FSU 4.55 (4.73) Vandy 0.96 (1.05) That is soccer and it happens every year. It happened to UCLA ?last year? or maybe 3 years ago. It is seriously short sighted at best and ignorant at worst to let an outlier game portend so much for FSU's future, especially when you consider their success the last dozen years. Some losses from the 23 team were not equally replaced which is to be expected. Roque to Todd big difference Flynn to Nguyen a difference Nesbeth to Boeckmann big difference Echegini to Washington et all moderate to big difference. Given those issues, we did well. Now going into 25, the biggest obstacle by far will be replacing Taylor Huff. I expect many of those freshmen to take a step forward. We'll see. It's never too early to say "Wait til next year"! meaning 25.
Congratulations Taylor! Welcome to the Bay, Taylor Huff!#BayFC has signed the three-time All-American, NCAA National Champion and @USWNT Futures Camp invitee!Read the announcement here: https://t.co/LPnzUXPJcq pic.twitter.com/Q3fuAVuLF3— Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc) January 9, 2025
Deyna is moving on. ¡Gracias Reina, @deynac18! 🩶#BayFC has reached a mutual agreement with Castellanos, who will be entering free agency. Read the announcement here: https://t.co/uaxRdfpKTx#BLegendary pic.twitter.com/o3ssdiRnmL— Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc) January 23, 2025
Correct. Here is the tweet that I meant to post above. ¡Gracias Reina, @deynac18! 🩶#BayFC has reached a mutual agreement with Castellanos, who will be entering free agency. Read the announcement here: https://t.co/uaxRdfpKTx#BLegendary pic.twitter.com/o3ssdiRnmL— Bay Football Club (@wearebayfc) January 23, 2025 Here is the information on the Portland deal. https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/ne...llanos-on-two-year-deal-after-leaving-bay-fc/
It's the assumption that JuJu is going pro because she never signed out of HS like the rest of the class a month or two ago (including Johnson). Don't think there's any solid intel about her plans otherwise.
Juju has informed FSU that she is going pro. There has been no announcement about which pro club she will join.