Nov. 6, 2008
Box Score
St. Louis, Mo. -
Earlier this season, the Duquesne Dukes used an early goal to hand the Fordham Rams their only home loss of the year. The Rams returned the favor on Thursday night, as Michelle Ancelj scored in the 24th minute to give Fordham a 1-0 victory over Duquesne in the opening round of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.
With the win, Fordham improves to 12-5-2 on the season, while Duquesne finishes their campaign at 7-7-4.
In the first half, Fordham started with the first five shots of the match, including three by Katie Sanchez. The Rams came close to getting the first goal of the game in the 15th minute, as off a corner, Sanchez got off a shot on net, but was stopped by a Duquesne player for a defender save.
The Rams eventually got the first goal in the 24th minute, which would be the only scoring of the game. At the top-right corner of the box, Dukes keeper Gabby Morrin collided with a teammate to free up the ball for Michelle Ancelj. Ancelj then scored her fourth goal of the season into an open net from 14 yards out.
Fordham would hold onto that one-goal advantage with another superb defensive performance, allowing just seven shots to the Dukes. It was the 13th time this season that Fordham has held an opponent to one goal or less, which now includes eight shutouts.
Overall, Fordham finishes with a 17-7 shot advantage, while having six corner kicks compared two for the Dukes.
Though few shots were sent in her direction, Fordham goalkeeper Elisabeth Roald kept the sheet clean with three saves on the night to record her fourth shutout of the season. For Duquesne, Gabby Morrin made eight saves.
Fordham now advances to the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal on Friday, November 7th, as they meet second-seeded Dayton at 9:00 PM ET at Hermann Stadium.
