Syracuse Women’s Soccer Trying to Break Cold Spell Against Pitt

By Ben Anderson

    Jack Frost has been making his rounds around Syracuse earlier than expected. That is for the Syracuse Orange women’s soccer team.

    The Orange have been held scoreless through its last five matches, being outscored 6-0 on its track to a four-game losing streak.

    Syracuse aims to put an end to the ice-cold scoring drought when it welcomes the Pitt Panthers to SU Soccer Stadium on Thursday night. 

    The Orange enter the contest with a record of 3-5-2 (0-3 ACC) following a 1-0 loss to Virginia Tech at home on Sunday. 

    The Hokies scored the game-winning goal with Hannah Pachan finding the back of the net with 5:23 remaining in the match. Offensively, the Hokies created a strong advantage against the Orange, outshooting SU 23-10 and 6-4 in shots on goal. 

    Despite the shot differential, the Orange were able to find opportunities after switching to a 3-5-2 formation for the contest.

    “Gave us more opportunities higher up on the field. Wanted to go in the two front with a press, and I think it benefited us,” Orange head coach Nicky Thrasher Adams said. “Once we figured out the midfield we were in a good spot.”

    Adams said that in order to fix the scoring slump, the team needs to turn it up on situational aggressiveness.

    “We got to be a bit hungrier inside the six-yard box,” Adams said. “We could have pulled the trigger and chose not to. Or take a player on one on one. We got to be a bit braver.”

    The Pitt Panthers, enter Thursday's game 6-3-1, but also striving for its first ACC win after falling to Louisville & Virginia Tech. 

    Unlike the Orange, the Panthers have had no problem scoring, finding the back of the net at least once in its last eight games. During this stretch, Pitt averaged 1.88 goals. 

    The reasoning for Pitt’s ability to score as of late is its ability to generate opportunities consistently. The Panthers are ranked ninth in the ACC with 16.6 shot per game and fourth in corner kicks with 6.9

    Leading the offensive charge as of late for the Panthers has been senior forward Sofia Doheny. She has all three of her goals on the season over the last four games. 

    The matchup against the Panthers is a historic rivalry for the Orange. The rivalry dates back to the 1996 season, which was Syracuse’s first as an NCAA soccer program. 

    SU leads the all-time series 12-10-4, including 6-4-2 at home. However, Pitt has dominated the series as of late, winning the last five contests, most recently a 3-0 victory in Pittsburgh in 2024. Over the five-game stretch, the Panthers have outscored the Orange 17-2 and holding the Orange scoreless through the last three meetings.

    To find the last the Orange defeated the Panthers, we have to go back to 2017 when the Orange won 2-0 in Pitt. We have to back another year, a decade ago to the last time SU defeated Pitt at home, a 1-0 victory in October of 2016.

    Heading the charge for SU is junior goalie Maya Naimoli, owning a 0.78 goals against average and a .825 save percentage through 9 games. 

    It’s the battle of two head coaches trying set their marks at their respective programs with SU’s Adams up against Pitt’s Ben Waldrum. Adams is in her ninth season with the Orange holding a 32-75-16 all-time record in the 315. Waldrum is in his second season at the helm, boasting a 12-13-3 record in Pittsburgh. 

    This match can be the starting point or the breaking point of the season for both of these squads.

    The contest will be broadcast on ACCNX with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.