Stanford women shut out in College Cup final loss to Florida State

The most proficient offense in the country lost its scoring touch at the worst possible time.

No. 1 Stanford was shut out for the second time all season in a 1-0 loss to No. 3 Florida State in the women’s College Cup final Monday night in Kansas City.

The Seminoles (16-2-4) scored with three minutes left to win their third title in five years – including a 5-1 win over Stanford in the 2023 title game.

The Cardinal (21-2-2) led the nation with four goals and 23 shots a game. It outshot FSU 18-8, including a 9-3 edge in shots on goal, but was unable to beat goalie Kate Ockene, who saved point-blank headers by Eleanor Klinger and Jasmine Aikey in the first half.

It was the 13th shutout in 22 games for FSU, which hadn’t lost since a 2-1 home defeat against the Cardinal on Oct. 16.

The winning moment came when a cross from Taylor Suarez was deflected by Stanford defender Elise Evans right to Wrianna Hudson, who one-timed the ball into the net with 3:01 remaining.

Hudson had also scored the only goal in Florida State’s semifinal win over TCU.

The Seminoles have now won five titles, the second-most behind UNC (22).

Stanford, the top overall seed, had outscored opponents 22-5 in five NCAA Tournament games and had won 17 straight thanks to a red-hot offense that had produced at least three goals in 17 of 24 matches.

Its offense was led by TopDrawerSoccer Player of the Year Jasmine Aikey, who had a goal contribution in all 13 NCAA Tournament games in her career.

A precise free kick by Aikey was enough to get past No. 2 Duke 1-0 in the semifinals on Friday and gave her 21 goals, one shy of the national lead and the fourth-most in program history for a single season. But there was no golden moment for Aikey or Stanford on Monday.

After Stanford went into halftime scoreless for only the third time this season, Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said in a halftime interview that the team just needed to connect a few more passes and be more composed on the ball.

“Our final pass and our quality in the final third need to be a little sharper,” Ratcliffe said. “But we’re getting opportunities.”

On the other end, Stanford defender Sophie Murdock deflected a close-in attempt by first-team All-American Jordynn Dudley as the Cardinal held the Seminoles without a shot on goal.

But to the extent Stanford struggled this season, it was in conceding goals in the final 15 minutes, which caught up with them at the worst possible time.

Hudson’s score, which came on a scramble after a corner kick, was only the second time this season that the Cardinal had conceded the first goal.

Stanford made a furious attempt at an equalizer, and Stephanie Kohler fell in the FSU box with 13 seconds left. But after going to a video review, the referee determined that she had not been fouled, ending the Cardinal’s hopes for a comeback.

The only other time Stanford had been shut out was in a 2-0 loss at UCLA three months ago.

The game capped the careers of Aikey, ACC Defensive Player of the Year Elise Evans, all-ACC forward Andrew Kitahata and the rest of Stanford’s standout senior class, which had made three straight College Cup appearances.

Stanford fell to 3-4 in championship games. Its last title came in 2019.