Florida State soccer takes on the Rice Owls after coming off of a dramatic 2-1 come from behind win against the No. 25 Georgia Bulldogs. Rice is looking to bounce back from a rough start and get back into the postseason.
No. 15 Florida State soccer will host the unranked Rice Owls on Sunday, Sept. 6 at the Seminole Soccer Complex.
Florida State is coming off a dramatic 2-1 come from behind road win against the No. 25 Georgia Bulldogs. Florida State was on the brink of back-to-back losses before scoring goals in the 83rd minute to tie Georgia, and in the 90th minute to take the lead and beat Georgia.
Florida State, who are the defending national champions, only returned four starters from its national championship game against Stanford. Head coach Brian Pensky is relying heavily on transfer portal additions to help the Seminoles continue their championship form.
Heading into the matchup with Rice, Pensky will lean on transfer Sam Erbach (scored both goals against Georgia), Wrianna Hudson. Florida State has outscored its opponents 12-4 this season, and has outshot its opponents 72-46. Florida State is also scoring on 17% of their shots compared to 9% by its opponents.
Rice (1-3-2) beat Navy, but has either lost or tied each of the last four games, including losses to ranked teams in their last two games (No.3 Vanderbilt, No. 17 Texas St)
Rice returns 15 players from its 2025 team that went 13-5-3 before losing to UTSA in the AAC tournament. Head coach Brian Lee brought in three players via the transfer portal to help get Rice back to the postseason: Eileen Albers (Radford), Elliana Ramirez, (Wake Forest), and Samantha James (Howard).
Rice has been outscored by its opponents 11-10, but has out shot its opponents 88-70. They've made 11% of their shots compared to 15% by their opponents.
Rice will depend on Lilly Reuscher, Kirsten Ruf and Lauren Pickup to lead the charge against Florida State. Reuscher is a defender who leads the team in total minutes played this season. Ruf is an experienced goalkeeper, and Pickup is a senior midfielder who brings leadership and experience. Pickup has two goals this season on five shots.
Florida State is 2-0 all-time against Rice with their last matchup being in 2024 when Florida State won 3-0 at Rice.
For Florida State the game will come down to their ability to get off as many shots as possible, and to put pressure on a Rice defense that has given up 11 goals in six games. If Pensky’s new look roster can find a rhythm, Rice will have another rough outing against another ranked team.
