Cary is a home away from home for Florida State soccer as it enters ACC Tournament

If it were up to Florida State women's soccer, WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, could be an extension of the Seminole Soccer Complex.

Former Seminoles coach Mark Krikorian told current head coach Brian Pensky before the 2022 College Cup that he always believed that WakeMed/Cary always felt like a "home-field advantage".

The venue has hosted 10 College Cups since 2003.

FSU has played in eight of them and won once.

On the conference level, the Seminoles have won multiple ACC Championships in their home away from home. As FSU gears up for the ACC Tournament semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday against Pittsburgh in Cary, and the 2023 College Cup returning to WakeMed, it has no issue making the nine-hour trip out of state.

"We always saw WakeMed/Cary as a home field and a home-field advantage," Pensky said. "I think players like Leilanni [Nesbeth], Beata [Olsson], Jody Brown, [Cristina] Roque and [Lauren] Flynn are all kids who've played a lot of games there. I think there's value in that"

While FSU claims the home-field advantage, there truly won't be a team in the ACC Tournament that has the home-field advantage as NC State and Duke failed to qualify for the tournament and UNC and Wake Forest lost in the quarterfinals.

"There are no North Carolina teams in this final four of the ACC," Pensky said. "Outside of Clemson, which is only a couple hours away, everybody else is taking a flight in which is nice."

Familiar faces

At one point of the season, UNC was ranked No. 1 in the country, but five ties in conference play saw it fall to No. 3 nationally and No. 4 in the ACC, setting up a quarterfinal matchup against Pitt.

The Panthers, who are known to be a physical and efficient side across the conference, upset UNC in double overtime, 2-1, to set up a rematch with FSU. In the first meeting, FSU found its edge off Onyi Echegini's ninth goal of the season for a 3-2 win.

"We just have to be ready, they give us different looks," Pensky said. "We've got to just read where the spaces are. Sometimes it's inside, outside, in front of their line or behind their line, and we just have to make good decisions, so we can make good choices and execute well."

Against the Panthers, the Seminoles were able to match one of the most active offenses in the country as Pitt averages 20.68 shots per game, which ranks fourth nationally, and 10.05 shots on goal, which ranks second nationally. The attacking effort has been led by Amanda West, who averages 3.95 shots a game.

Is Jordynn Dudley returning?

Freshman Jordynn Dudley, who is tied for fourth in the ACC for goals with nine, returned to practice this week after sitting out against NC State after getting "banged up" against Duke the weekend before.

Pensky said she returned to practice this week and is still sore. The team is monitoring her progression before deciding if she'll play on Thursday.

"She's doing pretty good," Pensky said. "Obviously, she had the weekend off, so yesterday was our first day back on the field and she was out and she trained. How much of that was her just kind of testing out stuff?"

"She's still a little bit sore, but we're going to be very intelligent, very smart, very safe with her and protect her. We'll see how she does in the next couple [of] days and make the right choice."

Winning the corner kick game

Another factor of the game against Pitt the Seminoles are preparing for are corner kicks. Pitt leads the nation with corner kicks per game, averaging 8.95 opportunities per match. That adds up to 170 corners over 19 games.

FSU has a weapon of its own in Taylor Huff, who is averaging .73 assists per game, which is tied for fifth nationally. The Seminoles have had 102 corner kicks this season, and Huff has taken a good chunk of them.

"We obviously got a game-tying goal against Pitt off a corner kick and we scored two off corners against NC State last week," Pensky said. "I think Taylor's feeling really good and confident right now about her service."

"She obviously has a lot to live up to in terms of Jenna [Nighswonger], and there's a lot of talk about Jenna, but Jen had 16 assists last year. I think Taylor has like 11 and we've only played 15 games. That's pretty darn good."

As the Seminoles aim for their third straight ACC title this weekend, facing off against a team that nearly beat them, FSU knows it just needs to execute the same way it has all season. The winner of Thursday's game will face either Clemson or Notre Dame in the Championship match on Sunday.

"We've just got to match their physicality," Echegini said. "They're [Pittsburgh] a very aggressive team and I think we can be as well."

GAME INFORMATION

Who: ACC Tournament semifinals: No. 1 FSU (14-0-1, 9-0-1 ACC) vs. Pitt (14-4-1, 6-2-1)

When/where: Thursday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. at WakeMed Soccer Park, Cary, NC

TV: ACCN

Jack Williams covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at jwilliams@tallahassee.com or on Twitter @jackgwilliams.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State soccer gears up for ACC Tournament in familiar venue