No. 2 Florida State battles No. 20 Duke for trip to College Cup

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Via Florida State University) – For the fifth consecutive season, and ninth time overall, No. 2 Florida State (18-2-4) is one of the final four teams competing for an NCAA national championship. The Seminoles will look to add to their 10-game winning streak in NCAA tournament play on Friday, December 4, as they play No. 20 Duke (13-5-5) at 7:30 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C.

It is the fourth time that FSU will be playing the College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Park, as Cary has hosted the Noles for the final weekend of college soccer in 2003, 2006, 2013 and 2015. The 2013 College Cup is the last time that Florida State has allowed a goal in NCAA postseason play, as the Seminoles have recorded 10 shutouts since surrendering an overtime goal to UCLA in the 2013 National Championship game.

“I think that both Duke and Florida State have gotten a lot better since we played early on,” said FSU head coach Mark Krikorian. “That was our first ACC game, it was quite early in the season and it was a tough, hard-fought game. Watching them on video in their last few games, I think that they look great. Any team that can go down and win at Florida and then turn around and fly out to California, play against Stanford and win out there, they are certainly worthy of our respect.”

+Read: Rutgers prepares to face Penn State in women’s College Cup semis

The Noles and Blue Devils met earlier this season on September 20 in Durham, N.C. The match ended in a 0-0 draw after two overtimes in the first conference match for both teams. The Seminoles were without five international players in that match – Megan Connolly, Megan Campbell, Natalia Kuikka, Emma Koivisto and Berglind Thorvaldsdottir – as each were called up by their respective national teams.

All are back for a rematch that will decide which team will play for a national title on Sunday afternoon. Krikorian is 9-0-1 all-time in NCAA tournament matches against teams that he faced earlier in the regular season, including a 5-0 victory last week against No. 21 Texas A&M.

The Noles lead the nation with 69 assists and are in the top five of six other categories – 2.88 assists per game (2nd), 8.21 points per game (3rd), 197 total points (3rd), 2.67 goals per game (4th), 64 total goals (4th) and an .833 winning percentage (5th). FSU is also in the top 16 of four other statistical categories as of December 2.

The Noles will play in the second semifinal match of the 2015 NCAA Women’s College Cup on Friday evening. No. 6 Penn State (20-3-2) and No. 9 Rutgers (19-3-3) will meet in the first semifinal at 5:00 p.m., in a match between two Big Ten opponents. Each match of the semifinals, as well as the national championship game on Sunday, December 6 at 12:00 p.m., will be broadcast on ESPNU.