Oct. 14, 2011

Amhrest, Mass./Kingston, R.I. - Following a five-game homestand, the Fordham women's soccer team takes to the road for the first time in almost a month for this weekend's Atlantic 10 matches against Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The Rams meet the Minutewomen at 4:00 PM on Friday, while taking on URI at 1:00 PM on Sunday

LIVE COVERAGE:
Friday - GameTracker
Sunday - Live Video (PPV) | GameTracker

SERIES HISTORY: Massachusetts leads the all-time series with Fordham at 12-4, while Rhode Island has a 9-5-1 advantage in the series with Fordham.

LAST TIME OUT: Looking for their first win over Dayton since 2008, things looked great for Fordham in the first half on Sunday, leading 1-0 at the half. However, #15/19 Dayton came away with two second half goals to pull out the 2-1 win over the Rams.

The opening half saw things go Fordham's way, as the Rams' got some fine goaltending from Rachel Suther and the game's first goal from Annie Worden. Suther posted six first half saves, including a kick save on a very close chance by Dayton's Kelsey Smigel.

Worden made Suther's work in net pay off, giving Fordham a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute. She paired with Kristina Maksuti on a give-and-go with Worden ripping a shot just inside the left post for her fifth goal of the season. The assist for Maksuti was her 23rd point of the season, tying her for the Rams' freshman scoring record, set by Sarah Hopkins in 2003.

The score remained in favor of the Rams until the 53rd minute of the second half, when Dayton tied the game on Colleen Williams' eighth goal of the season off a cross from the right side by Alexis Garcia.

The Flyers then grabbed the lead in the 82nd minute, when Juliana Libertin headed in her fifth goal of the season off a cross from Kelsey Owen.

The Rams had chances to get the equalizer in the closing minutes, as Fordham had three corner kicks inside of five minutes. The first corner kick was headed away by a Dayton defender, while the second found Fordham's Mariella Romano for a shot but was blocked over the endline by Dayton. The final corner kick saw Fordham commit a foul in the box, giving the ball to Dayton, and the Flyers were able to kill the clock with the Rams not getting another chance.

In net, Suther made eight saves for the Rams, while Dayton's Katherine Boone had four saves.

MULTI-GOAL GAMES: For the first time in 2009, the Rams have multiple players that have scored at least two goals in a game this season. Freshman Kristina Makusti pulled the feat in the first game of the season against Seton Hall, while junior Annie Worden turned the trick against Stony Brook. Mariella Romano joined the fray, netting two goals against Utah Valley.

Worden was also a part of the last time this happened in 2009, joining Michelle Ancelj and Leah Loguidice with multi-goal games.

MAKSUTI RANKED AMONG A-10 BEST BY TOPDRAWERSOCCER.COM: TopDrawerSoccer.com's latest player rankings among the conferences were released on Monday with Fordham freshman Kristina Maksuti rated as one of the league's top players. Every Monday, TopDrawerSoccer ranks the top 20 players in each conference.

Maksuti has led the Rams in scoring from the first game of the season, netting nine goals and five assists in 12 games. She also has one multi-goal game and four game-winning goals to her credit.

Maksuti's 23 points tying the freshman scoring record at Fordham, held by Sarah Hopkins, back in 2003.

On the national scene, she ranks 27th in the NCAA in points per game (1.92 ppg), tied for 27th in goals per game (0.75 gpg), and tied for 16th in game-winning goals (4).