Midfielder Sam Erbach netted two late goals to erase a deficit against Georgia, propelling the defending national champions back into the win column following a historic upset loss.
No. 15 Florida State soccer rallied to defeat No. 25 Georgia 2-1, Thursday, Sept. 3 at Turner Soccer Complex.
Junior midfielder Sam Erbach scored two goals in the final seven-plus minutes to lead the Seminoles to victory.
In their last game, Florida State (4-1-0) lost against arch rival Florida. Florida State had their nine game win streak, and their 36 non conference win streak snapped as Florida defeated the defending national champions 3-1. This was also the first multi goal defeat suffered in non conference play since 2003.
Florida State came into the 2026 season with 11 returning players from it’s championship squad. Head coach Brian Pensky added 14 players including the No.1 high school recruiting class and 9 players from the portal.
Freshman phenom Ryder Ajeto is tied for most goals on the team with two, she kept Florida State from being shut out with her second half goal late in the Florida game. Senior transfer player Tanner Strickland also has two goals.
Even with the upset loss against Florida, Pensky has seen his transfer portal player contribute early in the season, as his transfers lead the team in assists. Anaiyah Robinson, Sam Erbach, and Ashley Henderson are all transfers, and lead the team with two assists each.
Georgia (3-2-2), returns 17 players from a team that won eight games in 2025 (including three wins in SEC play). They added 13 players this season, including nine freshmen and 4 transfers. Georgia did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament last season.
Georgia is led by youth as sophomore Mya Townes leads the team with three goals in 2026, followed by freshman Maya Woolforde has two goals. Emma Pettersen scored her second goal of the season during Thursday’s contest. Georgia has leaned on transfers Assa Kante (Kansas), Kieryn Jeter (Penn St), Gabbi Ceballos (LSU), and BK Harris (USC).
Florida State started the season giving up zero goals in its first three games, and then allowed Florida and its high pressure offense to score three goals on 14 shots. Some of this could be a team still working on getting accustomed to each other, and maybe they get better defensive results as the season goes on.
Florida State has had a ten day layoff since their last game, giving Pensky a chance to fix whatever happened in the upset loss at Florida. Georgia has not been consistent with their scoring, and that might be because of the high turnovers committed by Georgia in their first six games.
Florida State entered the season as a top 10 team as it has for 20 of the last 21 seasons. Beating a ranked team on the road will provide Pensky an opportunity to climb back into the top 10, and get this program back on track after a bad loss at Florida.
