Seminoles soccer slips out of top 25, climbs back after Clemson win

The Florida State women's soccer team entered the 2026 season ranked No. 4 and as the reigning national champions, but with a significantly different roster. The Seminoles welcomed 16 new players after 10 members of last year's national championship team signed professional contracts.

FSU fell out of the Top 25 United Soccer Coaches Poll for the first time since 2017 during the week of Oct. 1 after three consecutive ties slowed the team's momentum. They quickly answered, snapping the streak with a 3-1 win over No. 23 Clemson on Sunday, Oct. 4.

FSU fell out of the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll for the first time since 2017 on Sept. 29 after three consecutive ties slowed the team's momentum. The 'Noles quickly answered with a 2-1 win at No. 23 Clemson on Oct. 4 and returned to the Top 25, where they now sit at No. 24. The team looks to carry that momentum into the final stretch of the regular season.

"I think we definitely took some steps forward," head coach Brian Pensky said in a press conference on Oct. 7. "A good team wins against a good team, on the road, no less. So we're becoming a team, we're getting better, we're moving forward."

The Garnet and Gold scored twice in the first 10 minutes at Clemson, one game after being held scoreless in a 0-0 tie at the University of Louisville. On the other end, sophomore goalkeeper Kate Ockene, who ranks ninth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) with a 1.00 goals-against average, made three saves to preserve the win.

"We wanted to win," Ockene said in an interview with the FSView. "We've tied three games in a row so we were like, we're not tying, we're winning this game … We just had organization and more of a game plan in general."

Despite the brief stretch of adversity, the Seminoles do not let that define them as they continue to adjust to a new group and build toward another postseason run.

This would not be the first time the 'Noles have regrouped after regular-season stumbles to finish strong. During their 2025 championship campaign, the Garnet and Gold suffered their only two losses of the year to Notre Dame and Stanford, but Florida State responded by avenging the Stanford loss in the national final with a 1-0 win.

"It's hard to kind of block out the outside comments sometimes, commenting about our team, but I really don't think it affects us because I think we know who we are," Ockene said. "We know how much talent we have and we have so much belief in ourselves," she said.

The 'Noles sit 10th in the ACC standings as they continue conference play. Their home match against No. 1 University of North Carolina, scheduled for Oct. 9, was postponed because of Hurricane Isaias, and no makeup date has been announced. Florida State has won two of the teams' last three meetings.

"Obviously there's some pressure, but I think pressure's good for us, we perform better under pressure," Ockene said.

Gia Ciaccio is a Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at contact@fsview.com.