Men’s Soccer Gets Ready for Final Two Matches of Atlantic 10 Action

Bronx, N.Y. – After defeating Rhode Island last week, the Fordham men's soccer team clinched a spot at  Atlantic 10 Championship for the fourth straight season, the first time the Rams have accomplished that feat.  This week, the Rams will look to secure seeding and a possible home match for the championship quarterfinals, as Fordham will host Saint Louis on Saturday for Senior Night, while traveling to UMass on Wednesday for the regular season finale.
 
Fordham (10-3-2, 4-1-1 A10) is on a three-match win streak, heading into the final two games of the regular season, and have lost only once in 11 matches since Labor Day (9-1-1).  The Rams sit in fourth place currently, which is important, as the top four seeds with host the bottom four seeds at their home field for the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals, before heading to Dayton for the semifinal and championship matches.  Fordham will also celebrate Senior Night on Saturday, where the team will honor its nine seniors, Christopher Bazzini, Jordan Black, Mateo Gowland, Matthew Lewis, Jannik Loebe, Kyle Losi, Eric Ohlendorf, Patrick Thees, and Vincenzo Zuccala.
 
Saint Louis (5-8-1, 2-4-0 A10) comes into Saturday's matchup with their playoff hopes alive, as they are tied with St. Bonaventure and La Salle for the final playoff spot with six points.  UMass (11-2-3, 5-0-1 A10) sits in the top spot in the Atlantic 10 with 16 points and is the only team to have not lost in conference play this season.
 
GAME COVERAGE:
Saturday – Saint Louis at Fordham – 7:00 PM – Live Stats | Live Video* | Follow on Twitter @FordhamSoccer
 
Wednesday – Fordham at UMass – 2:00 PM – Live Stats | Live Video* | Follow on Twitter @FordhamSoccer
* - Make sure to have the latest Adobe Flash Player plug-in enabled on your browser to view game. Having trouble, go here.
 
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the tenth all-time meeting between Fordham and Saint Louis with the Billikens holding a 6-3 edge in the series.  Fordham has won two of the last three matches, defeating Saint Louis, 2-1, at the 2014 Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals and then 2-1 in double overtime at Saint Louis, last year.  In last year's meeting, Janos Loebe won the game with a blast from outside the box and inside the right post.
 
Against UMass, Fordham is 7-14 in the series with the Minutemen winning last year's match, 2-0 at Jack Coffey Field.  Fordham's last win over UMass came at the 2015 Atlantic 10 quarterfinals, when Jannik Loebe scored on a penalty kick for a 1-0 win.
 
BOHM NAMED TO COLLEGE SOCCER NEWS' TEAM OF THE WEEK (10/23): Following his performance against Rhode Island on Saturday, Fordham freshman Jacob Bohm (Berlin, Germany) was named to the College Soccer News Team of the Week, it was released on Monday.

Bohm scored his third game-winning goal of the season on Saturday in Fordham's 2-0 win over Rhode Island.  It was his third goal in his last five games, as he took a pass from fellow freshman Andron Kagramanyan and scored in the 56th minute.  His three goals rank third on the squad behind Janos Loebe (6) and Jannik Loebe (5).
 
RAMS AMONG NATIONAL LEADERS: As of October 25^th, the Rams are ranked in the top five nationally in goals against average (4^th), shutout percentage (3^rd), save percentage (3^rd).  Individually, Janos Loebe and Rashid Nuhu rank in the top 25 in five categories.  Loebe is tied for eighth in the nation in game-winning goals with four and 23^rd in assists with seven, while Nuhu is second in shutouts with ten, while being 4^th in goals against average (0.453) and 3^rd in save percentage (.863).

 
LAST TIME OUT: Behind second half goals by Jacob Bohm and Jannik Loebe and four saves from Rashid Nuhu, the Fordham men's soccer team shut out the Rhode Island Rams, 2-0, at the URI Soccer Complex in Kingston, R.I.
 
After a scoreless first half, Fordham opened the scoring in the 51^st minute.  Andron Kagramanyan played a through ball to Jacob Bohm, who fired a hard shot over URI goalkeeper Nils Leifhelm into the top left corner of the goal for his third goal of the year and third in the last five games.
 
Fordham then sealed away the win with a second goal in the 83^rd minute, when Jannik Loebe scored his fifth goal of the season to make it 2-0.  In transition, Jannik made a run up the left side, finding Janos Loebe with a pass.  Janos returned the favor with a slip pass through the URI defense, which Jannik finished into the net.
 
The two goals were enough for Fordham goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu and the Fordham defense, as they racked up their tenth shutout of the season.  Nuhu made four stops in the win, joining Jeff Knuth in 1987 and Ryan Meara in 2011 as the only Ram goalkeepers to have ten shutouts in a single season.
 
WHO'S NEXT: Following the UMass game, Fordham will be in the 2017 Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinals with the game on November 4^th or 5^th, depending on seeding with location and time to be determined.