It was senior day when Syracuse defeated St. John’s on Sunday.

But it was impossible to miss the effect of a freshman, Erin Simon, who seemed to be in the middle of every Orange attack.

Simon’s persistence on the field has garnered comparisons from her coach to the Energizer Bunny.

“She’s one of those people you would hate to play against because she just doesn’t stop,” head coach Phil Wheddon said. “She just keeps going and going and going and going. She’s got an extra battery pack hidden somewhere I think.”

Simon was named to the Big East Honor Roll this week after scoring the first goal in Syracuse’s 3-0 victory over St. John’s.

“Definitely means a lot,” she said of the honor. “It’s not just my hard work, it’s the players around me who make me better every day and give me the ball as I need to do to put it in the back of the net.”

The recognition may have come at the end of the regular season, but Simon has been a key player for the Orange (9-6-2, 6-3-1 Big East) since scoring against Long Island on Sept. 7 in the 90th minute to beat the Blackbirds 2-1.

It was Simon’s first goal of the season. Six weeks later, she is tied for second on the team in both goals and points.

Three of the four goals Simon has scored this year have decided games for the Orange. She scored the first goal of the game in shutouts against both Pittsburgh and St. John’s, in addition to the late goal against Long Island.

And all of this comes after missing her senior season in high school because of injury. Coming off a missed year, Simon said she had to prove herself once she came to Syracuse.

“I definitely had to put my name out there and make an impact as soon as I stepped on the field because they had no idea what I was like,” Simon said.

Though averaging more than 66 minutes per game, Simon did not start until the seventh game of the season against Army, two days after her game-winning header against Long Island.

But since then she has started nine of the final 11 games of the season, averaging 75 minutes per game.

Wheddon and his staff aired on the side of caution in playing Simon early on, given that she was not only a freshman, but had also been recovering from an injury.

“She came in, she proved she was ready and she’s been a very pleasant surprise because obviously her senior year she didn’t really play, so she’s been terrific,” Wheddon said. “I can’t say enough about her.”

Junior midfielder Rachel Blum said Simon has become increasingly confident throughout the season, and is only improving as she becomes more comfortable in the offense. Blum credits Simon’s vision and positioning as the reasons for her success.

“That’s what you look for in a forward: someone who has clear vision for the goal and is going to be tenacious to get on the end of the ball,” Blum said. “She keeps getting in the right positions and she doesn’t get nervous under pressure.”

Simon said she has merely been at the right place at the right time, and is only finishing the chances her teammates create for her.

“When you get the opportunities, you have to put them in the back of the net,” Simon said.

In a season where a failure to finish has plagued the Orange, Simon’s ability to do so has been that much more important.

“She’s been very composed in front of goal for someone who’s relatively, you know, new to this level of soccer,” Wheddon said. “In all honesty, she probably could have had a few more goals, but the goals that she has scored have been very important to us.”

Published on October 23, 2012 at 11:30 pm

Contact Jack: jstruitt@syr.edu