Coming off of a corner kick, there was a scramble for the ball. Army defenders attempted to clear, but there were too many legs reaching for it. Finally, out of the madness, Eva Gordon sent a roller past Army goalie Jordan Cassalia for the eventual game winner for Syracuse on Aug. 26.

“I never walked away from a game where she wasn’t an impact player,” said Mike Paolini, who coaches Gordon in the Syracuse Lady Knights club. “She’s always been a prolific offensive player.”

Through six games, the junior forward has totaled two goals, equal to what she had in her first two years combined. She has registered the third most shots on the team and is tied for the most shots on goal. Now, she’s finally showcasing the talent that’s been there.

In high school, Gordon traveled to several countries for soccer tournaments. Her favorite was the trip that she made to Russia in 2013 for the Kuban International Tournament with the Region 1 Olympic Development Program team. After leading her team to gold, Gordon was added to the Kuban All-tournament team and named Tournament MVP.

When Gordon signed with the Orange, she was the No. 1 ranked forward in the East region and the ranked as the 38th overall prospect in the country, according to SyracuseDevelopmentAcademy.com. After signing with Syracuse, Paolini did not understand why Gordon didn’t get more attention from the national team’s program.

“I don’t know what more you can do when you walk away from Russia as the player of the tournament,” Paolini said. “I’m just surprised she never got a full shot.”

She struggled offensively in her freshman year. In 17 games, she only recorded one assist and failed to score a goal, with only 11 shots. This was a big change for someone who scored 54 goals during her high school career and registered 71 total points at nearby Christian Brothers (New York) Academy.

But playing at a higher level was always something that she had been used to. Paolini promoted Gordon at the age of 16 to the Lady Knights’ under-18 team. At the time, he noted, the league was the No. 1 ranked league in the country.

Soon after, Gordon was promoted again into the Women’s Professional Soccer League. There, for Paolini, she played against college and former professional players while she was still in high school.

In one of their tournaments in Rochester, the Lady Knights faced Albany with Gordon being the youngest on the team at 16. Gordon got the ball in stoppage time with a deft touch and sprinted ahead to score the winning goal.

“Wow. There are just some players you know are special,” Paolini said of the moment.

This year, Gordon is showcasing her prowess to the rest of the country.

“Gordon’s matured an awful lot in the last couple of years,” SU head coach Phil Wheddon said.

“And this year she’s playing the best that she’s played before. I think that she’s more sophisticated this year. She has a different drive this year.”

Paolini, though, wants to make sure that his former star player does not grow satisfied. Growing up in Syracuse and playing for the team she grew up watching is the perfect way to go out, but he doesn’t want this to be the case.

“She could absolutely play beyond the college level,” Paolini said. “She can’t settle for the storybook ending.”

With the way she has played thus far this season, Gordon may have a chance to prove Paolini right.

Published on September 7, 2016 at 11:03 pm

Contact Matt: mdliberm@syr.edu