Just when it looked like the game was headed to overtime, senior Jamia Fields broke a scoreless tie in the 83rd minute to give the second-ranked Florida State Seminoles (24-1-1) a 1-0 victory over ACC rival Virginia.
The win in the 2014 College Cup final in Boca Raton, Fla., gave the Seminoles their first national championship in the 20-year history of the program.
For the fourth-ranked Cavaliers (23-3-0) it was a bitter defeat. All three losses in 2014 were to FSU, each by 1-0. In the final minutes, the Cavaliers mounted a offensive flurry, but could not score on a defense that put up shutouts in six consecutive NCAA playoff games.
Over the last 87 games Virginia has played, the Cavaliers have been shut out only five times, and all five were to FSU.
Cheyna Williams (Hampton, Ga.), who had both goals in FSU’s 2-0 win over Stanford in the semifinals, assisted on Fields’ goal. Williams, who began her collegiate career at Vanderbilt, was named the College Cup’s Most Outstanding Player on offense and finished postseason with 13 points on six goals and one assist.
The goal for Fields was her third in the 2014 tournament, while seven of her 14 career goals as a Seminole came in the postseason.
The Cavaliers entered the championship game as the highest scoring team in the country, averaging nearly three goals a game. However, against FSU they could not put a single shot on frame.
The Seminoles became only the second ACC team to win a women¹s national championship, joining the UNC Tar Heels, who have won the title 21 times.
The win for Florida State was the first in three national championship appearances, and the (Noles became the 10th different team to capture a Division I women’s national soccer title. Three of the last four have been first-time winners.
Florida State began the postseason by winning the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title for the second consecutive season. Junior Carson Pickett’s first goal of the season in the 17th minute gave FSU the 1-0 championship victory over the Cavaliers.
Florida State head coach Mark Krikorian became only the second coach to win a national title in two different divisions. The 10-year FSU head coach previously won back-to-back D-II championships at Franklin Pierce College. Krikorian is the first to do it at two different schools.
Brian McManus led UC San Diego to national titles at the DII and DIII levels.
With the win, Florida State ended the 2014 season with 10 straight wins and a school-record 21-game (20-0-1) unbeaten streak.