Nigeria Players Abroad
Jennifer Echegini breaks Randy Waldrum heart again as FSU end Pittsburgh fairytale run
By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde
For the second time this year, Jennifer Onyi Echegini and her American side, Florida State University secured consecutive victories over Randy Waldrum’s University of Pittsburgh.
FSU beat the Panthers 3-2 during the regular season when both sides last met and earned a 2-0 win over University of Pittsburgh in the semi-final of the ACC Women’s Championship as they scored two goals in the final 20 minutes.
It was a dominant first half for the Seminoles as they outshot the Panthers 10-2 and held possession for 58% of the time but were unable to find the back of the net.
The FSU Noles got a couple of good looks though as Echegini hit one off of the top crossbar in the 19th minute. Jordynn Dudley also had a great look that went just wide in the 32nd minute.
The two teams were very even to begin the second half, and Pitt threatened twice in the 52nd minute and again in the 59th minute, but Cristina Roque and the FSU Seminoles’ defense prevailed to keep the Panthers off the board.
FSU ended Pitt’s momentum as Leilanni Nesbeth sent a great ball from just beyond the midfield to Jody Brown. Brown took a couple of dribbles and sent it into the box to Dudley who easily converted on the header to give FSU a 1-0 lead in the 70th minute.
Dudley scored her 10th goal of the season to join Echegini as a double-digit scorer for the Seminoles. This is the first time since 2014 that FSU has had two double-digit scorers.
Just five minutes later, FSU created a corner kick opportunity for Taylor Huff who sent a perfect ball to the front post where Beata Olsson just got a piece of it to send it to the back of the net to give FSU a 2-0 lead.
Echegini saw 75 minutes of action for FSU while Deborah Abiodun played full 90 minutes for University of Pittsburgh.
FSU will look for their fourth consecutive title on Sunday at noon when they take on Clemson.
