Abby Incorvaia always carries a ball. She just took time to score it at SU.
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The only thing on Abby Incorvaia’s mind was nutmegging Mickey Mouse.
Her mother, Laura Incorvaia, chuckles when thinking of Abby’s former trainer’s old dare. When the Incorvaias ventured to Walt Disney World in 2017, 10-year-old Abby packed two essential objects: a soccer ball and a pump. She brings them everywhere to dribble in public. On this particular trip, she’d been challenged to dribble her ball through the mascotted mouse’s legs. So she stuffed the ball in her carry-on bag, which bobbled to plane passengers’ dismay.
When she arrived at Magic Kingdom, Abby dribbled to Cinderella’s Castle and performed a rainbow.
She then approached Mickey, nutmegged him and sent proof to her trainer, who had a “hysterical” reaction. She brought the ball on every ride.
Abby still brings a ball everywhere. Her unwavering discipline and obsessive desire to improve helped her break Waldwick High School’s (New Jersey) all-time goals record with 128. But after playing sparingly at Syracuse as a freshman, she’s leaned back into her younger creative self. The sophomore’s now accrued a team-high four goal contributions through seven games as SU’s featured midfielder.
Abby Incorvaia performs a rainbow in front of Cinderella Castle at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in 2017. That day, she completed a dare from her trainer, who asked her to nutmeg Mickey Mouse. Courtesy of Laura Incorvaia
“She just took that ball,” Laura said. “Everywhere we went, she had the ball. She kicked it against curbs. She kicked it against my house.”
Abby drives everywhere with a Dick’s Sporting Goods ball bag. Her adventures with it have taken her everywhere from Disney World to parking lots to beaches. Laura jokes Abby sometimes returns with surprises while mindlessly dribbling, like animals. She rarely follows crowds and wings everything.
“She wasn’t ever a Barbie doll kind of person,” Laura said. “She had lizards. She had worm farms. This is Abby. Abby is so different.”
When she was 10, she captured her pet snapping turtle while frolicking in a forest. Then, she took home two pet bunnies. At Syracuse, a parakeet landed on her. She found a cat, brought it to SU’s Ensley Athletic Center and clothed it in Orange gear.
“She’s like a magnet for animals,” Laura said. “She is like the animal whisperer. She has this gentleness with these animals that, if a bear walked by, she probably would think she could play with it.”
She was an animal herself on the pitch, though. Before she sent a tremor through Waldwick recreational soccer, she already mastered scissors, bicycles and around-the-worlds by watching YouTube videos on her iPad late at night.
“We were even asked to (leave) town recreational soccer because when she was on the field, nobody else could ever touch the ball,” Laura said. “It was comical at times.”
A rumor once spread that parents griped about Abby hogging goals, Laura said. Heck, even referees asked for postgame pictures.
“They all knew that this girl was a special player,” Waldwick travel coach Tommy Schultz said. “You’re going to hear and read about this girl in five years, and they’re like, ‘I want to make sure I have the photo that I reffed this girl when she was 11.’”
Abby played up a year with her sister, current UAlbany striker Ava Incorvaia, on 2006 teams with Waldwick and her club teams, The Sports Factory and Cedar Stars Academy. Her competitiveness was contagious through the highs and lows.
Everywhere we went, she had the ball. She kicked it against curbs. She kicked it against my house.Laura Incorvaia, Abby Incorvaia’s mom
Schultz listened. Whenever Abby lost, she’d silently dribble to the parking lot. After one middle school loss, Schultz remembers trying to cool Abby down. He put his arm around Abby and riffed about getting revenge. No response.
They got to her family’s car. Abby opened the door and slammed it in her biggest mentor’s face. Ava and Laura burst out laughing. Schultz said Abby could only get mad at him by playing her on defense, but he was wrong.
“What I told her, she probably took in and retained at some point,” Schultz said. “That was Abby in a nutshell. She just showed up and worked her ass off.”
Abby’s competitiveness extended to family board games on Christmas Eve. One Monopoly game, Abby “threw a fit” because her grandmother made it easier for her 5-year-old cousin to win.
Her drive broadened with Elite Club National League at Match Fit Academy, where Abby flourished for six years, her coach Dom Bucci said. She began as a central attacking midfielder and later played false nine, which meant she dropped deeper into the midfield because Bucci preferred her back facing the net. Match Fit frequently qualified for the ECNL Champions League in Seattle and San Diego.
“She’s very creative, and when she’s on the ball, she can make some plays,” Bucci said. “She was our playmaker the whole time, and she was the person that dictated our play up top. Whenever she gets the ball, people stand up and see what this kid’s going to do next.”
Stefanee Kivlehan, Abby’s Waldwick coach her senior year, remembers when she hit 100 career goals. Teammates brought poster boards, speculating she’d reach the milestone. The game paused when Abby did via a hat trick, and she snapped midgame pictures.
Abby Incorvaia poses with a trophy and certificates in 2024 after breaking Waldwick High School’s girls soccer goals record (128). She scored twice for Syracuse in back-to-back games in August. Courtesy of Laura Incorvaia
Abby was almost always at a Waldwick field. If anyone came, she asked them to be passing partners. Abby shot, dribbled with cones and used a toy rebounder. She did it half an hour before Kivlehan’s practices commenced, and on weekends, Abby conducted her own.
“‘Oh, here comes Abby again,’” Laura recalls her friends saying. “People would pass the field and town and say, ‘Oh, I saw Abby out there working.’”
Local coaches also took note. Kivlehan attended a Bergen County coaches meeting in 2024, and others were talking about Abby’s volley goal at an identification camp. Abby even overheard Syracuse coaches talking about that play a year later.
Abby didn’t treat recruitment normally. She bought a binder and color-coded it with nearly 40 logo shades and school mascots, separated by categories. The Atlantic Coast Conference was Plan A. She committed to Syracuse on Sept. 2, 2023.
Abby said SU’s coaches trusted her, but it took time. She appeared in every game last year, eclipsing 30 minutes once while landing four of her seven shots on goal. But unlike Abby’s storied Waldwick career, none were goals.
She didn’t feel humbled. If you asked Abby who the best player on the field is, she’d say herself. She was still “too good” for her competition.
“I got a lot of hate because I was the best player on the high school team, and the scouting report would always be, ‘hit her, bound her, mark her, triple-team her,’” Abby said. “I’d still find a way to make them mad.
“Even if it wasn’t the full 90 (minutes), I was able to adjust to the speed of play and the people around me and feel it out,” Abby added regarding last year.
It was the first time Abby needed to prove her worth, which made last offseason crucial. Her ball still never left her sight, but she needed to make sacrifices. Abby was either in the gym or at the field. No junk food. She abandoned parties to go to bed by 8:30 p.m.
“She just transformed,” Laura said. “There was no such thing as sitting home ever. She’s super regimented and strict with herself. Her motto is ‘outwork everybody.’”
This summer, she reconciled her creativity. The one who nutmegged Mickey Mouse. The one who captivated animals. The one who nauseated opponents’ parents.
Abby spent six weeks with United Soccer League W League’s Tallahassee Reckoning. Her international teammates revered her ACC status, seeing her for who she claimed she was.
Confidence poured over. As always, she carried a ball. She’d visit a new friend, a stray cat, reconciling those forest visits.
The summer eased her internal tension. Abby didn’t have to blend into Syracuse’s rotation.
“‘What can you do in between? Can you make the crowd go crazy? Can you do something that no one’s going to expect?’” she asked herself. “Whenever I can, I try to do some flair and do something that no one’s going to expect.”
Take her game-winning goal earlier this season against Northwestern, for example. Mentally, there’s a lot on her mind, Laura said, like Bagel Nosh, her favorite restaurant. Physically, the ball’s on her foot, as always. Kivlehan watches on television. She sees Abby “jet it” for the ball after being awarded a 90th-minute penalty kick.
Abby steps up to break the draw. Wildcats goalkeeper Nyamma Nelson heckles her. Abby doesn’t hear her. She’s thinking about a wild cat. She leans back and finds the top-left corner.
“I wanted to be that game changer,” Abby said.
