Syracuse women’s soccer has used set pieces to remain undefeated
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The two gaffers stood face to face along the sideline’s midfield stripe. Syracuse’s Nicky Thrasher Adams on the left and Holy Cross’ Ben Graham on the right.
In the 66th minute of Sunday’s matinee, Graham challenged for contact inside the 18-yard box after Gabby Wisbeck shoved Ava Graham to the ground.
Referee Gloria Martinez Resendiz approached the coaches and confirmed a penalty kick. Thrasher Adams clapped her hands in frustration before retreating to her side.
It’s a justifiable reaction. Play is stopped, and the Crusaders assume control with a penalty kick. Maya Naimoli correctly guessed Sam Halligan would shoot left but couldn’t save the shot. It tied the game at one.
Allowing a set-piece goal is a bitter feeling. So, in the next four minutes, the Orange removed the sour taste from their mouth and fed it to Holy Cross by drawing four fouls and scoring two set-piece goals to clinch the win.
Set pieces have been essential in Syracuse’s (1-0-1, 0-0-0 Atlantic Coast) undefeated start through two games. In Thursday’s scoreless draw versus Villanova, the Orange logged seven first-half corner kicks, their most in a half since Aug. 17, 2025. In Sunday’s 3-1 triumph over Holy Cross, the aforementioned second-half goals — which came off a free kick and a penalty — paved the way for SU’s first victory of the year.
“One of (the) things we stand out on are our set pieces,” SU midfielder Sarah Weisberg told The Daily Orange. “Just making that noticed is definitely a good strength.”
Set pieces consist of goal kicks, throw-ins, corner kicks, free kicks and penalty kicks. They occur when play stops, whether the ball goes out of bounds or a referee whistles. They often jumpstart offenses and are risky to defend. Control swings toward the team possessing the dead ball.
Syracuse started last season with set-piece success, too. A 5-0 thumping of Charleston Southern featured a penalty-kick goal. Syracuse accrued a season-high 15 corner kicks, 12 in the second half, two days later against Niagara.
But from then on, the Orange’s attacking opportunities dwindled. They plummeted to 4.5 corner kicks per game — tied for the third fewest in the ACC — and 2.8 in conference play — ranking dead last.
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Villanova — which hasn’t reached the Big East Championship in seven years — is far below the level of competition Syracuse will see in the ACC. But if Thursday proved anything, SU mended those deficiencies.
Eight minutes in, the Orange earned back-to-back corner kicks in a 43-second span, allowing Anna Croyle to glance a header wide and Julia Arbelaez to record SU’s first shot on goal of the season.
The half’s final eight minutes resembled the first. SU logged two more corners in 64 seconds, during which Vickie Jones’ attempt hit the post. For the final few minutes of the stanza, Syracuse pressured the Wildcats’ defense with another pair of corner kicks.
While the Orange only had one second-half corner, they adjusted well to Villanova’s four. In the 71st minute, Emery Streets cleared a Wildcats corner and found an open Farrah Stephens-Martin for a breakaway.
Weisberg said corners are emphasized in practice, with several players rotating to take kicks on their swinger side. That means left-footed Wisbeck takes them on the right and right-footed Arbelaez takes them on the left so the ball swings toward the net.
SU had multiple set-piece opportunities Thursday and stood its ground on Villanova’s double-digit free kicks. However, Syracuse never capitalized.
One of our things we stand out on are our set pieces, just making that noticed is definitely a good strength.Sarah Weisberg, Syracuse midfielder
But on Sunday, the Orange pieced it together. After Halligan tied the game in the 66th minute, SU stormed downfield. A throw-in landed on Stephens-Martin’s cleats before she was clipped by Holy Cross’ Caroline Bierfeldt, leading to a free kick.
A few yards outside the box, Abby Incorvaia bounced the ball right of the Crusaders’ three-player wall, allowing Jasmine Nixon to redirect it into the cage with her left foot for the go-ahead goal.
Following the ensuing kickoff, Syracuse recovered from a Holy Cross corner by earning its own set piece. Naimoli’s path was obstructed during a save attempt, one of three Crusaders fouls in a three-minute span. The third occurred when Bierfeldt elbowed Ali Howard’s head inside the 18-yard box, resulting in a penalty.
Once again, the coaches marched toward the midfield line. But this time, Graham was the infuriated one.
“Oh, come on,” he exclaimed following the call.
After what happened four minutes prior, Thrasher Adams and Co. were refreshed to have a set piece served on a silver platter.
But the Orange still had to convert. They opted for Jones — on the cusp of her first-career two-goal game after a first-half screamer. She slotted the ball in the bottom-right corner, fooling goalie Antriana Mila, who jumped the other way.
“I always go to my right,” Jones told ACC Network Extra postgame. “I just take a few deep breaths and place it where I want it.”
Without the Orange’s two second-half set-piece goals Sunday, they would be winless a couple games into nonconference play, a dropoff from last year’s 4-1-3 nonconference stretch. But because they drew contact to secure set pieces, that isn’t the case.
It’s ironic SU had fewer set-piece opportunities than Holy Cross — fouling 17 times to the Crusaders’ 14 — and still converted more. Holy Cross also limited Syracuse’s corner kicks, taking five to its two.
There’s only so many times in a 90-minute match when the ball remains stagnant for a set-piece chance. So when Thrasher Adams and Graham react the way they do to a set-piece call, their fears are legitimate.
Syracuse happened to be on the right end of the ones that mattered most.
