In a game full of Hermann Trophy candidates, it was a low-scoring winger who brought the Florida State women's soccer team its first national title.
In an all-ACC Women's College Cup Final, midfielder Jamia Fields scored in the 83rd minute to give the Seminoles (24-1-1) a 1-0 win over Virginia (23-3-0) at FAU Stadium on Sunday.
It was the teams' third meeting of 2014, all hard-fought 1-0 wins for Florida State. Those three matches were the Cavaliers' only losses of the season.
With just over seven minutes left in the second half, Fields received the pass from teammate Cheyna Williams at the top of the Virginia penalty area, shimmied past two defenders and ripped a low, left-footed laser past goalkeeper Morgan Stearns.
'I'm in that position at lot,' Fields said after the game. 'The ball was on my left foot when I cut inside. I took the chance and shot it and it went in.'
It was Fields' fourth goal of the campaign - and all four have come in the postseason. Eight of the senior's 14 career goals have come in the ACC and NCAA tournaments.
That postseason prowess has earned Fields, one of six Seminoles on the All-Tournament team, the nickname of Ms. November. Now, she can go by Ms. December.
'I like the pressure of big games,' Fields said. 'I think every college soccer player lives for those moments.'
This was veteran coach Mark Krikorian and FSU's fourth straight final four and the eighth in school history, but it was the school's first NCAA title.
He said on Friday that the Seminoles would win a national title when they were ready. And, apparently, Sunday they were.
'I thought this was the most complete team we've had,' Krikorian said afterward. 'We had so many different attacking options and defending options. I think our group was more prepared than we've ever been for this moment.
'I wouldn't say that it was our most attractive game, but at the end of the day, we did what we had to do to find a result.'
Virginia's midfield controlled much of the possession in the first half, with U.S. national teamer Morgan Brian directing traffic and distributing the ball with patience and precision.
But neither she nor striker Makenzy Doniak could break through the steadfast defense of FSU, which became the third school not to allow a goal in the NCAA Tournament. With Sunday's shutout, Krikorian's back line hasn't allowed a goal since Nov. 7, a span of over 630 minutes of game play.
'We played them three times and [they were] one-goal games each time,' said Virginia coach Steve Swanson. 'You have to give them credit. We couldn't get a goal against them in three times. I think that says it all right there.
'They are very committed to [defending] from front to back,' he continued. 'Even their forwards are good defenders. It is together. It is coordinated. I don't think their back line and goalkeeper get enough credit. They have a good system and they have good players.'
Williams, a junior transfer from Vanderbilt who scored both goals in FSU's semifinal win over Stanford and was named the tourney's offensive MVP, played a big role in the finale. She put pressure on the Virginia defenders, regularly muscling them off the ball, and her eagerness created what few chances existed for the game's first 80-plus minutes.
'It took me maybe a week of being at Florida State to realize that we really could make a run at it,' Williams continued. 'Seeing the team come together and how well we learned [to play with] each other and how close we got in a short amount of time, I knew that this was a special year.'