Women's soccer

Juniors Simon, Firenze provide stability for Syracuse midfield

Logan Reidsma | Staff Photographer

Junior Erin Simon, along with captain Jackie Firenze, has exhibited consistency this season at midfield, even while head coach Phil Wheddon has tweaked the supporting cast around them in almost every game.

Syracuse junior forward Erin Simon was still on the field 30 minutes after practice last Wednesday.

Simon, the only player left, practiced step-overs, pullbacks and toe taps with the ball at her feet. She dribbled forward and backward and side-to-side around cones within a 5-yard space. It was quiet, simple and consistent, three trademarks of her style on the field.

And she continued to work with assistant coach Alyscha Mottershead while head coach Phil Wheddon fittingly answered questions about his team’s consistent performers.

Half of the Syracuse (3-4-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) roster is new to the program this year, which has placed a premium on consistent play from its veterans, especially in the midfield. Simon and junior captain Jackie Firenze have both exhibited that this season, even while Wheddon has tweaked the supporting cast around them in almost every game.

“One of the things that you need in a program is consistent performers,” Wheddon said of Firenze and Simon. “And I think we’re getting to a point now where we’ve got that and we’ve had that for a couple years.”



Simon has played in every single game for SU since 2012 and Firenze has played in all but two.

Finding the right combination of players in the midfield has been one of Wheddon’s goals during the first half of the season, and having Simon and Firenze to lean on has given support to younger players.

“It’s important for anyone on the team to be consistent,” Firenze said. “That’s something that we all look for. Consistent and growing at the same time is something any player needs to strive for.”

Syracuse has stronger leadership this season compared to the past, Wheddon said, and that could have something to do with Mottershead’s presence.

When Simon and Firenze were freshmen in 2012, Mottershead was their captain. Firenze looked up to her and now models her captainship after her current assistant coach, and both Firenze and Simon continue to learn from Mottershead as a first-year assistant coach.

Firenze — with the help of vice-captains Taylor Haenlin and Alexis Koval — has organized team meetings, which didn’t happen much in the past. The meetings have raised the level of accountability among teammates resulting in a higher standard of play on a daily basis.

By giving maximum effort in practice, Simon hopes to make her teammates better, she said. Simon rarely has an off game and that’s because her role is predicated on effort — something she can control.

Simon is listed on the Orange’s roster as a forward but has played defense and outside midfield this season. When playing outside midfield in SU’s 3-5-2 formation, she does more running than any other player on the field.

With these examples set by Simon and Firenze, the consistent effort is trickling down to the freshmen.

“It shows the rest of the players what they need to do to be successful and that’s what we need,” Wheddon said. “We need that kind of leadership from those players that have been around.”

The two midfielders are making impressions on SU’s younger players, starting with things like staying after practice to improve footwork.

“When we leave, they can look back and say ‘Oh, I remember Jackie and Erin and all of us,’” Simon said. “They can look back on that and be like ‘Oh, I want to be like them, I want to play like them. They were so hard working.’”





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