LeiLanni Nesbeth and Florida State missed out on a place in the College Cup final after suffering a 3-2 semi-final defeat to North Carolina.

After an even opening to the game, Florida State fell behind when North Carolina broke the deadlock three minutes before half time and they further extended their advantage by scoring two goals in the space of seven second-half minutes, with the first coming in the 59th minute.

With a mountain to climb, Florida State finally found a foothold in the match and battled back with two goals in nine minutes to cut the deficit to just one .

Florida State’s first strike came courtesy of Onyi Echegini, who got on the end of an inviting cross from Jody Brown to head home before the former turned provider, crossing for Heather Payne to also score with a header.

But there was to be no late dramatic comeback as, despite a valiant effort in the closing stages, North Carolina held firm to claim victory and seal progression through to the final.

Florida State were ultimately left to rue what could have been after enjoying the lion share of the ball, finishing with 52 per cent possession and created more opportunities on goal with 25 shots to North Carolina’s 14.