Syracuse women’s soccer falls to Cal in season finale

With 90 seconds left in the game and Syracuse getting ready to take a corner kick, Nicky Thrasher Adams, the Orange head coach, instructed junior goalkeeper Maya Naimoli to abandon her goalposts and push all the way up the field into the Cal penalty box. 

88 minutes into the contest, Syracuse still hadn’t scored, but not for a lack of trying. Adams’ team recorded a total of 19 shots on the night. But it was yet another frustrating night for the Orange, who found themselves down two goals on the night.

Thursday marked Syracuse’s final matchday of the season, but the writing had been on the wall long before. Adams’ side went into this game with a 1-8 conference record, placing them at the very bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), far from the top-6 tournament-clinching positions. 

Naimoli’s rush was Adams’ last ditch attempt to give the three-quarters full SU Soccer Stadium something to cheer about on Fan Appreciation Night. 

The corner-kick swung in. Cal goalkeeper Alyssa Savig left her line to make a play on the ball, initially bobbling it before fully corralling it and putting an end to the chaos. The Syracuse bench requested a video review, but some of the fans in attendance started walking out before the referee could make her way to the monitor.

The night looked promising earlier on for the Orange, who thought they had claimed first blood only two minutes into the contest. Forward Farrah Stephens-Martin, who trailed behind on a corner kick, found herself wide open as the cross came in. Her shot, on its way to Savig’s goalposts, caught a deflection, totally wrong-footing the Golden Bears, as it slowly rolled past the goal line. 

But the assistant referee raised her flag: offside. The ball had deflected off an offside Syracuse player, nullifying the goal. 

The first goal of the contest wouldn’t come until the opening minutes of the second period. Cal defender Lauryn Fleshman put in a low-driven cross from the right side, which bypassed the Syracuse defense to find senior left-winger Soleil Dimry at the backpost for a tap-in.

Defender Miriam Hils was the second senior to get on the scoresheet for the Golden Bears, making no mistake on a 64th minute penalty kick. 

The 2-0 final score marked Syracuse’s sixth consecutive loss to close out another short season: the program’s 14th consecutive season on an unsuccessful hunt for a first ACC Tournament appearance. In conference play, the Orange have never won more than one game in a single season since appointing Adams in 2019.