Jamaica’s senior Reggae Girl Jody Brown scored a brace to assist her Florida State University team to another national title after they downed Stanford 5-1 in the NCAA women’s national championship final.
Both teams entered the showpiece contest unbeaten, but at the end, it was Brown and her FSU team that proved to be the best of their lot at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, on Monday night.
Brown scored in the 30th and 62nd minutes, to end her four years with FSU as a two-time national champion, having also played an instrumental role in their 2021 triumph. Jordynn Dudley (29th), Beata Olsson (59th), and Onyi Echegini (85th), got the others, as the top-ranked FSU produced a dominant display that ripped what was considered to be the NCAA’s best defence to shreds.
Maya Doms (52nd) got Standford’s consolation.
After a fairly tentative start by both teams in the early exchanges, the Seminoles asserted some authority and scored twice in a span of 29 seconds to end the first half in the ascendancy. This, as Dudley converted from the penalty spot, before the fleet-footed Brown went on the break and calmly fired home.
Stanford struggled to contain FSU midfield pressure, but they eventually broke the shackles and pulled one back courtesy of Doms’s powerful effort seven minutes after the break.
However, the Pac-12 champions celebrations were short-lived, as the Seminoles two-goal cushion was restored by Olsson, who tucked away an effort before the hour-mark, and later played provider for the diminutive Brown to complete her brace.
That goal basically knocked the wind from the Stanford defenders, and it opened the door for Echegini to finish off a melee and cap the win for FSU.