COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Lindsey Chessman (So., Orlando, Fla.) scored twice in the fourth quarter – including a man-up strike with seven seconds left – to earn Player of the Game recognition for leading No. 16-ranked/Southeast Division Champion Florida State University to a 10-9 victory at No. 11/Texas Division Champion Texas A&M University in the opening round of the 2024 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the Aggies’ Student Rec Center.
FSU advances to the tournament quarterfinals where the Seminoles will take on No. 1/Southwest Division Champion the University of California-San Diego at 10:10 a.m. Central on Saturday, May 4. UC-San Diego earned its spot in the quarterfinals by stopping No. 17/Atlantic Division Champion Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University by a 17-3 score.
Due to the loss, the host Aggies slip into the consolation side of the 16-team championship bracket and will face Virginia Tech at 6:20 p.m. Central this evening. Due to the loss, Texas A&M can not finish higher than Ninth Place in the final championship standings.
The game was a back-and-forth affair for the entirety of the 28 minute event with neither team holding a lead of more than three goals from the opening sprint until the final buzzer.
Florida State gained the first lead as Chessman dented the twine with 4:40 on the first quarter clock to make it 1-0. Shannon Connolly (Sr., Santa Barbara, Calif.) answered for the Aggies (3:02), FSU’s River Hastings (Gr., Orlando, Fla.) delivered a counterpoint (1:42) and Connolly flushed a second equalizer (25 seconds) to deadlock the squads at two-all after seven minutes.
Chloe DeAvila (Jr., Orlando, Fla.) swished a man-up chance 38 seconds into the second quarter (6:22) to return the lead to the Seminoles at 3-2, but Connolly netted her third tying score at 6:01 to balance the scoreboard at three-all.
Florida State acquired some breathing room prior to halftime as Madilyn “Maddie” Johnson (Fr., Blue Bell, Pa.) and Rosa Priest (Fr., Orlando, Fla.) blessed their team with back-to-back goals at 3:05 and 52 seconds, respectively, to make it 5-3 in favor of the tribe entering halftime.
However, the Aggies marched back into the contest in the final 2:30 of the third quarter as Connolly continued her one woman offensive onslaught by putting away her team’s fourth (2:22) and fifth (1:46) natural goals to level the damage at five-all.
Johnson returned the lead to Florida State with 1:31 left in the frame, but Braelea Loftin (So., Riverside, Calif.) launched in a counterpoint 29 seconds into the fourth quarter (6:31) for the contest’s fifth tie at six-all.
Florida State appeared to put the contest away as Johnson lined in a penalty shot (5:35) before Chessman (4:43) and DeAvila (2:57) followed with even-strength scores to provide the Seminoles a 9-6 spread with under three minutes remaining in regulation.
The home team refused to concede defeat in their home water, however, as Connolly (2:41, 1:15) sandwiched a strike by Avery Davis (Jr, Houston, Texas) (1:57) to erase Texas A&M’s deficit and raise the possibility of the weekend’s first overtime contest.
Chessman terminated the potential for extra-time by cashing in on an exclusion against Loftin with 23 seconds remaining to convert for the game-winning tally with seven ticks on the clock.
For Florida State, Connolly (seven), Davis and Loftin combined for their team’s offense in support of a combined 10-save effort from netminders Leah Nelson (Sr., Alvin, Texas) (six, 14 minutes) and Reagan Smith (So., Oceanside, Calif.) (four, 14 minutes).
Chessman and Johnson both finished with hat-tricks in the game to accompany a pair from DeAvila. Priest and Hastings contributed solo scores to support an 11-save performance by goalie Sophie Bassett (Fr., Orlando, Fla.).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 16 Florida State University |
2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | – | 10 |
| No. 11 Texas A&M University | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | – | 9 |
| Texas A&M Goals: | Shannon Connolly (7); Avery Davis; Braelea Loftin | |||||
| Florida State Goals: | Lindsay Chessman (3); Maddie Johnson (3); Chloe DeAvila (2); Rosa Priest; River Hastings | |||||
| Saves: | Texas A&M – Leah Nelson (6, 14 minutes), Reagan Smith (4, 14 minutes) ; Florida State – Sophie Bassett (11) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Texas A&M – 11 ; Florida State – 4 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Texas A&M – 0-for-4 ; Florida State – 3-for-11 | |||||
| Sprints: | Texas A&M – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) ; Florida State – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Florida State (Head coach Adam Gaffey, 3:10 left in 2nd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Bruce Morehouse, Philippe Knall | |||||
Texas A&M University’s Avery Davis (#6) defends Florida State University’s Maddie Johnson (#17)
Texas A&M University’s Braelea Loftin (#17) seeks an open teammate as Florida State University’s Khole Riordan (#16) moves in
Texas A&M University’s Shannon Connolly (#12) cocks to shoot as Florida State University’s Chloe DeAvila (#2) and Sophie Bassett (#1) prepare to make a stop
Florida State University’s Khloe Riordan (#16) & Texas A&M University’s Shannon Connolly (#12)
Florida State University’s Maddie Johnson (#17)
