Florida State sports notebook: Preseason edition Seminoles soccer women’s basketball

Just a few thoughts on Seminole sports. As always read at your own risk.

• By
  
  Prince Akeem Joffer
  
• on August 1, 2023 5:55 pm

The summer is coming to a close (although you can’t tell from the thermometer) therefore it is a good time to assess how a couple of Florida State programs are doing heading into the new season.

Women’s Basketball

Florida State will be heading to Greece and Croatia on an International Tour. The Tour will run from August 5th-15th. The Seminoles are currently in Tallahassee preparing for the Tour. Sara Bejedi is competing internationally for Finland and freshman Carla Viegas is still in Spain. However, both players will meet the team in Greece and participate in the Tour.

This Tour comes at a great time for the program as the Noles will be welcoming six new players to the roster. The Tour will be an excellent opportunity for the new players to be integrated into the team.

Unfortunately, forward Mariana Valenzuela will miss the entire season with an ACL injury. I will have more on this in the season preview but this is an important loss for FSU. However, there is still quite a bit of talent on the team and the Noles will be in the mix for a top 20 ranking.

Soccer

Florida State had its first practice today with the full team minus the players still competing in the World Cup. Onyi Echegini’s Nigeria team has advanced to the knockout round. Jody Brown and Jamaica will be playing tomorrow morning against Brazil. If the “Raggae Girlz” win they will advance to the knockout round. Maria Alagoa was chosen as an alternate for Portugal so while she wasn’t on the official roster she was with the team in New Zealand. Portugal was eliminated last night by the United States after drawing with the Americans by a nil-nil score. Heather Payne’s Ireland side failed to advance to the knockout round.

Speaking of Heather Payne, the former Florida State outside back has played her last game in Tallahassee. Payne has agreed to sign with Everton of the Women’s Super League (WSL) in England. The WSL is the highest league of women’s football in England. Everton finished 6th of 12 teams last year in the WSL.

I will not sugarcoat this. Payne’s loss is massive. According to the advanced metrics Payne was the best outside back in the nation last year. Had Payne decided to return I would have had FSU as the top team in the nation. The good news for FSU fans is that if there is a team that can handle such a loss it is the Seminoles. I will have more on this in my upcoming season preview but the Noles will have several good options on the backline even with Payne’s departure. This is still a top five team that will be in the mix for a return trip to the College Cup.

As always, the comments are yours.

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