Women’s Soccer Concludes Regular Season Sunday Against George Mason

After clinching a spot in this year's Atlantic 10 Championship in their last contest, the Fordham women's soccer team is playing for seeding on Sunday, when the Rams host George Mason at Jack Coffey Field for Senior Day.
 
The Rams currently sit in a tie for fourth place with Saint Joseph's and are two points back of VCU for third.  Fordham's opponent on Sunday, George Mason, is tied for seventh overall with Duquesne and will be playing for a berth in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
 
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SERIES HISTORY: This is the third-ever meeting between Fordham and George Mason.  The Patriots have won both of the previous match-ups, which includes a 1-0 overtime win at Jack Coffey Field last season.
 
MOVIN' UP: Fifth-year Fordham players Kristina Maksuti and Jessica Widmann have steadily climbed the Rams' all-time leaderboard this season.  With a goal in the last game, Maksuti moved into sole possession of fourth place on Fordham's career goals (24) and points (59) list, while being tied for eighth in career assists with 11.  Widmann registered an assist in her last game, moving her into a tie for third on the all-time assists list at Fordham with 13, while being sixth in points and tenth in goals.  Widmann is also closing in on the record for games started by a Ram with 71, just four behind all-time leader Laura Muzzatti (75 – 2004-07).
 
DEFENSIVE RECORDS IN SIGHT: Aside from Maksuti and Widmann's assault on the offensive record book, the Fordham defense and junior goalkeeper Megan Fitzgerald have closed some big marks.  In the last game, Fordham recorded its tenth shutout of the season, breaking the 2009 team record for shutouts in a season, and bringing the team's goals against average to 0.83, which has just surpassed of the 2007 school record of 0.84 for a season.  Individually, Fitzgerald is tied with Shannon Misiaszek's single season mark of eight shutouts, set in 2001.
 
WIDMANN NAMED TO CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT TEAM: The 2015 College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District™ Women's Soccer Teams have been announced, and recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances athletically and in the classroom.  Among those honored were Fordham women's soccer player Jessica Widmann (East Meadow, N.Y.).  Widmann is the first women's soccer player to be selected to the Academic All-District™ team since Katie McDermott in 2010.

A first semester graduate student, studying Marketing Intelligence, Widmann has been the Rams' top scorer all season long, netting a team-high 11 goals to go with three assists for 25 points.  She also leads the Rams with five game-winning goals this season.  In the Atlantic 10, she is tied for second in overall points and is second in goals.

Prior to this year, Widmann earned her undergraduate degree in Communications & Media Studies with a 3.46 GPA and was a two-year member of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and received the Leader of Distinction Award from the Fordham Leadership Academy.

 
LAST TIME OUT: They say good things come to those who wait.  For the Fordham women's soccer team, it had been five straight seasons without postseason play, but on Thursday, the Rams guaranteed a postseason berth with a record-breaking 2-0 shutout of the Davidson Wildcats at Jack Coffey Field.  The Rams will be heading to next week's Atlantic 10 Championship for the seventh time overall and the first time since 2009.

It was an overwhelming performance by the Rams, outshooting Davidson, 21-6 in the match, and getting two first half goals.  In the 34^th minute, the Rams struck for the opening goal of the contest, when Jessica Widmann found Kristina Maksuti for a shot from 25 yards out.  The shot grazed the bottom of the crossbar and into the back of the net for Maksuti's seventh goal of the season.

The Rams then got their second goal in the waning seconds of the first half.  Brianna Blunck took a corner kick with about 20 seconds left in the period.  Davidson goalkeeper Alex Carpenter muffed the catch and the ball deflected off two players.  A Davidson defender tried to clear the ball off the line, but Fordham's Caitlin Leen got in the way of the clearance and knocked the ball into the net for her first collegiate goal.

The Fordham defense took care of business in the second half, giving up just three shots to the Wildcats, none of which were on frame.  It marked Fordham's tenth shutout of the season, breaking the team record of nine, set in 2009. 

Fordham goalkeeper Megan Fitzgerald made one save for her career-best eighth clean sheet, which tied Shannon Misiaszek's 2001 single season record at Rose Hill.  Carpenter made nine saves for the Wildcats.
 
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams will next be in action on Thursday, November 5^th, as Fordham opens play at the Atlantic 10 Championship, which will take place at Davidson College in North Carolina.  The opponent and game time have yet to be determined.