This year’s quarterfinal was a replay of last year’s quarterfinal which Virginia won in penalty kicks thanks to the now-departed Maya Carter.  Florida State shook off that loss and went on to win the national championship, but it is pretty clear that this year’s version is not the same as last year’s version.  While FSU did win the possession battle, the Seminoles were particularly toothless and never put Virginia keeper Victoria Safradin under any pressure.

The game started slowly – Virginia is definitely a second-half team – and the ref stamped her authority on the game quickly, whistling four behind-the-back pushes in the first couple of minutes.  Another ref could easily have not called any of these, but for the game, the ref was consistent throughout.  (We’ll get back to the ref later.)

Florida State spent much of the opening 15 minutes knocking the ball about in the middle third of the pitch to little effect.  Virginia does not press on defense, and I have often wished that they did, but the Hoos were very good at moving as a unit and I imagine head coach Steve Swanson would have approved of their “organization.”  FSU’s game plan was to attack down the wings, especially on the right through Shaneil Buckley, the fastest player on the pitch.  The fact that the score line reads Virginia 3 – 0 is a testament to the game Liv Rademaker had.  The Buckley-Rademaker battle was enjoyable to watch, and Liv decidedly won.

Twenty-five minutes in, Virginia should have grabbed the lead.  Addison Halpern dragged both of her defenders toward the top of the penalty box and then she laid a lovely ball to a wide open Gio Canali.  Canali tried to curl the ball into the upper right corner of the net, but hit it too hard and the ball sailed a foot over goal.  The announcers had mentioned that in talking with Steve Swanson, he had admitted that Canali’s confidence was shaken, and this would be another data point in a heretofore underwhelming campaign for the Miami transfer.

For the most part, neither keeper was challenged for most of the half.  FSU’s Ashley Henderson, who must have been the shortest player on the pitch, got open for a nice header off a corner, but she sent it straight to Safradin.  Both Canali and Halpern would receive lovely crosses, but they were closer to the top of the box than the box itself and their headers were easily saved.

Allie Ross flipped the script, though, in the 38th minutes when she slotted home a lovely volley off an Ella Carter free kick.  The free kick was exactly where it should have been, but Ross was in a crowd and the ball fell to her feet.  She glided the full volley into the bottom left corner for what would be the game winner.  Degree of difficulty:  10 out of 10.

39' | UVA 1, FSU 0

Allie Ross puts the Hoos on the board!

She delivers off the beautiful service from Ella Carter.

📺 ACC Network#GoHoos | #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/YCTixv7L23

— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) November 9, 2026

Ross has justifiably lost her starting spot to Sophia Bradley, but she has a deft touch that no other Virginia forward has.  She is the only player who could have scored this one.

As the teams retreated into their lockerooms for halftime, and both coaches stated that their respective teams needed to play with greater urgency, the announcers trotted out the stats that Virginia was 7 – 0 – 0 when leading at the half while FSU was just 1 – 3 – 0 when trailing.  It felt like a classic case of the announcer’s jinx, but for the past three years I have remarked on what must be the magic of Steve-Swanson halftime talks.

Both Florida State and Virginia knew the mission, then, as well as the urgency of the moment:  FSU has won this tournament ten times since Virginia last won it.  This was not just another game.

And then the ref took over.  Four minutes in Kathryn Kelly was given a yellow card for a tactical foul and the ref went to video review to see if Kelly had pulled Jaida McGrew’s hair.  If she had, it would have been a red card.  I take a dim view of the hair-pulling epidemic that is hitting women’s soccer at all levels.  Soccer is a physical game and if someone wants to wear hair down to their hips, well, this stuff happens.  And while it is a foul, no one should get carded for most of the hair pulling that goes on.  And in this case, the referee agreed.  Florida State fans will feel aggrieved, but this was the correct call.  Only it took five minutes to reach this decision.  I’ve never seen a head ref talk at such length with the fourth ref about a call.

The momentum of the game, for both teams, was gone, and upon re-start, it was like the half was beginning anew.  Only Florida State came out on the short end as four minutes later Gio Canali scored to give the Cavaliers the 2 – 0 lead.  Deft interplay between Canali and Carter gave Carter a shot from outside the six-yard box.  The keeper parried the shot and Canali followed the shot as four FSU defenders caught ball watching.  Seriously, it was a pretty easy tap-in for Canali.

52' | UVA 2, GSU 0

Gio Canali puts it in the net to douuble the lead!

Add another assist for Ella Carter in the game!

📺 ACC Network#GoHoos | #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/wQZqcRepul

— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) November 9, 2026

Florida State continued to chase the game and they had a lot of midfield play, like in the first half, but the Noles weren’t very incisive.  They got a lifeline, though, in the 70th minute when it looked like Pearl Cecil handled the ball when it was kicked at her.  These are hard calls.  It clearly wasn’t intentional and Cecil’s arm clearly tucked to her side, but equally clearly, her arm changed the course of the ball.  This is why I don’t ref, I don’t want to make these calls.

So this ref agonized over this call for more than five minutes, talking even longer with the fourth ref.  This is an NCAA women’s soccer game, there are only four or five cameras, it shouldn’t take this long, even as everyone wants the correct call.  In the end, no hand ball and FSU would have to look for answers elsewhere.

Inevitably, the game got stretched and Halpern and Bradley made two lovely passes on a counter against an exposed FSU back line.  This time Canali found her composure and slotted home on the one-v-one with the keeper for the 3 – 0 lead and her first brace as a Cavalier.

77' | UVA 3, FSU 0

Gio Canali with the brace!

Hoos looking to close it out in Tallahassee!

📺 ACC Network#GoHoos | #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/KIIaRmoUGu

— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) November 9, 2026

I'd say that Canali atoned for her first-half miss.

FSU got a flurry of chances with a about six minutes remaining and Wrianna Hudson drew a fine one-v-one save from Safradin, but it was too little, too late.  With the win, Virginia advances to the semifinal for a rematch with Notre Dame.

Victoria Safradin was locked in tonight in Tallahassee!

Four big saves on the night, but this one was clutch for the shutout.#GoHoos | #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/KDWYXzNV8u

— Virginia Women's Soccer (@UVAWomenSoccer) November 9, 2026

It is time to salute the Virginia defense.  I’ve worried about defenders getting their pockets picked (and both Kelly and Cecil got theirs picked by FSU,) and every fan has bemoaned some shoddy passing, and yes, this team struggles with breaking the press, but ultimately the stats don’t lie.  Virginia has played 17 games and allowed just 10 goals.  And three of those came in like six minutes against UNC. 

Duke scored 45 goals this year; Virginia shut them out.  Louisville scored 43 goals and Virginia shut them out.  Wake Forest just put four goals past Duke in a losing effort in the other quarterfinal; Virginia allowed them just a single goal.

Kelly might be the most emblematic defender on the back line.  Yeah, she does turn the ball over and she’s not got great speed, but her angle of pursuit is first class and she knows how to use her body.  In other words, she’s a wily, fifth-year veteran who is making the most of the first minutes of her collegiate career.  For the most part, it has been enjoyable watching her growth.

Next Up:  A trip to Cary, North Carolina for a rematch with Notre Dame on Thursday, November 12th at 11am.  And yes, you read that correctly.  When you’re playing out of doors and there are four games slated, it is best to get the first game.  One lightning strike and the whole schedule can fall apart.