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Lindsey Brick stationed herself in her usual position by the corner flag while Jenna Tivnan prepared to once again angle a header on net.

The hard corner kick sailed right by Tivnan’s head, which usually would’ve meant a missed opportunity for Syracuse. But this time, an airborne Shannon Aviza headed the ball toward the back post, where it eluded Virginia goalkeeper Cayla White.

The target on the play was Tivnan, Aviza said, but she was able to step in unmarked and score after seeing it go over her head.

“We have been working really hard on those set pieces, and I’m glad we had some production from them,” head coach Nicky Adams said.

Set pieces — which are goals scored on a free kick, corner kick and penalty kick — were part of the game plan for Adams and Syracuse going into the contest against a top-10 Virginia team, Adams said. Syracuse (1-7, 1-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) entered with two goals on the season but managed to register three against No. 10 Virginia (7-2-1, 5-2-1). Despite dropping the contest 5-3, the Orange’s newfound success on set pieces helped revive an offense that failed to score a goal in its first five games. 

“One of the weakest parts of (Virginia’s) game was defending set pieces, so we had been working on getting in the final third, trying to get (to the) end line to get corner kicks or get fouled so we had opportunities in the final third on those set pieces,” Adams said.

Tivnan and Brick have been at the forefront of the recent offensive success and have connected on back-to-back Syracuse goals, the first being a game-winner against Miami and the second being the Orange’s initial goal in the 11th minute on UVA. Though one was a corner kick and the other was a free kick, the two goals were nearly the same: Tivnan strode into the box, leapt into the air, earned a good position and headed Brick’s set up into the back of the net.

Tivnan’s goal cut the lead in half after Virginia managed to put across two within the first 11 minutes of the game.

“Jenna Tivnan is one of the best players in the nation in the air — she is a weapon, and we have set specific plays to get her head on the ball. Brick has been serving balls everyday in practice so she can play them right on Jenna,” Adams said.

Syracuse’s second goal came on the corner kick that Aviza stashed home, drawing the Orange within one to close out the half. The goal was the third this season coming from a defensive player. Two came from Tivnan and the last one from Aviza.

In a slow second half, the Cavaliers pulled away from the Orange, stretching the lead to 5-2. A penalty within the box in the final 10 seconds of the game gave Syracuse another set piece opportunity, though.

Redshirt junior Kate Hostage struck the ball, which was ticketed for the right side of the net. White guessed wrong and dove left, giving Syracuse its third set piece goal on the day. Hostage, who missed all of last season with an ACL tear, got on the board for her first goal of the season with just seconds left in the Orange’s.

“We did put three goals up on set pieces, and that’s something that we were working on and something that we were trying to do,” Aviza said.

Syracuse was efficient in the shot category, getting off seven shots on goal on just eight shot attempts. The Orange also obtained three corner kicks in the first half. The team hasn’t scored three goals in a game since August 2019, when SU scored three in a shutout win over Siena.

Hostage’s penalty kick was too late to mount any late game momentum against Virginia, though. It was too little and far too late.

Published on November 1, 2020 at 6:06 pm

Contact Cameron: [email protected]