Syracuse women’s soccer downs Holy Cross 3-1 for 1st win of 2026
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Ludwig Field in College Park, Maryland, is a pitch Syracuse hasn’t graced. But if you ask Vickie Jones, she might tell you its ambiance mirrors SU Soccer Stadium. Neither is a place she’s accustomed to.
Oct. 16, 2025, was the only time Jones — then playing with Michigan — roamed the Terrapins’ grass. Still, perhaps the 18-yard box whispered to her. Jones hadn’t scored in her 42 career matches. But three minutes in, Jenna Lang’s cross found Jones at the edge of the box, and she buried her first-ever goal.
Sunday’s venue was similarly unfamiliar. It’s Jones’ new home stadium, but it was just SU’s second game of the season. In the final moments of the first half against Holy Cross, Jones corralled a rebound outside the 18-yard box. She struck with her left foot, and jubilation ensued, just like that October day with the Wolverines. Jones secured that same feeling in the second half, scoring her second goal of the afternoon.
Jones’ breakout guided Syracuse (1-0-1, 0-0-0 Atlantic Coast) to its first win of the season, a 3-1 victory over Holy Cross (0-1-1, 0-0-0 Patriot). The Michigan transfer scored the game’s first and final goal for her first-ever brace, with the latter coming on a penalty kick. Jasmine Nixon also added a goal, creeping up from her defensive stance to redirect a free kick into the net midway through the second half.
On Thursday against Villanova, Jones’ lone shot didn’t reach the back of the net, keeping her career total at one goal. Three days later, that total has tripled. Sunday’s performance would already rank among Syracuse’s top three scorers last year.
Jones didn’t threaten early Sunday, playing reserved in the midfield. Meanwhile, striker Farrah Stephens-Martin pushed forward more aggressively.
In the seventh minute, Stephens-Martin raced down the left sideline to scoop Gabby Wisbeck’s through ball in desolate grass, leaving her for a one-on-one tango with Mary Sommer. She mustered a weak, left-booted shot toward goalie Antriana Mila. Twenty-eight seconds later, Julia Arbelaez stripped the ball from Sofia Scalise, bumped her shoulder and fired a deep bullet on goal. Neither hit twine.
SU grabbed three straight throw-ins as the game approached the 15th minute and worked downfield. The possession ended with back-to-back shots on goal: a high one from Lauren Christy and a Stephens-Martin header.
The Crusaders fought back, anchored by 2025 All-Patriot League Second Team member Karenna Beckstein. Listed as a forward and defender, she was all over the field, starting on defense but making an equal impact up front.
In the 18th minute, Beckstein ripped an aerial shot into the box. Four minutes later, the senior showcased a scissors move and laid the ball off for Jenelle Murphy, who shanked the ball wide right. Anna Croyle followed a bit later with a misfired header off a Wisbeck free kick.
It appeared Jones didn’t want the ball in the waning first-half moments. As the 44th minute approached, she received a pass at the edge of the box and laid it off for Kendall Mesh.
Mesh was blocked, and the ball trickled back to the 18-yard box rim. Only one player was there. Jones knew the result before it happened. She wound up and blasted the ball impeccably between Mila’s glove and the crossbar for Syracuse’s first goal of the season.
“I just went right for it,” Jones told ACC Network Extra postgame. “I knew it was going in the top of the goal.”
The two sides were stagnant in the second half’s first 20 minutes, but things got chippy in the 63rd minute. Murphy slide-tackled Abby Incorvaia, and Wisbeck snapped at Murphy, who received a yellow card.
After Wisbeck went a step further three minutes later, putting her hands on Ava Graham in the box, the Crusaders’ Sam Halligan buried a 66th-minute penalty kick to tie things at one. A minute later, Holy Cross got on the wrong side of a penalty. Caroline Bierfeldt’s tackle outside the box produced a yellow card.
The game ultimately came down to set pieces, with Holy Cross already scoring off one and Syracuse threatening to. Incorvaia dished a pass inside the box that ricocheted off Nixon’s knee for her first-ever goal and a 2-1 lead.
The Crusaders’ sloppiness was their downfall, as a triad of fouls followed. The final one, a Bierfeldt tackle on Ali Howard, pinged a penalty kick.
Nicky Thrasher Adams turned to one of her newest players.
At 5-foot-11, she’s tied for the tallest player on the pitch. With three seasons under her belt, she’s one of the most experienced players on this field. But entering Sunday with one career goal, she may have been one of the most unproven scorers on the pitch.
That sentence can’t ring true now. Jones wound up, sent Mila flying to her left, only for the ball to trickle right.
A magician never reveals their secrets, but up 3-1 with the game all but out of reach, Jones spilled the tea.
“I always go to my right,” Jones said. “I just take a few deep breaths and place it where I want it.”
