Oct. 9, 2011

Bronx, N.Y. - Two of the top offensive teams in the Atlantic 10 meet up on Sunday, as the Fordham women's soccer team continues conference play, when the Rams host the #15/19 Dayton Flyers at Jack Coffey Field. Fordham is coming off a 2-1 win over Xavier on Friday, while Dayton fell to La Salle, 2-1, in overtime.

LIVE COVERAGE: Links to Live Video and GameTracker.

SERIES HISTORY: Dayton leads the all-time series with Fordham at 11-2-3.

LAST TIME OUT: Despite falling behind early in the second half, the never say die attitude of the Fordham women's soccer team was on display on Friday night at Jack Coffey Field. The Rams' forward duo of Kristina Maksuti and Annie Worden each netted a goal approximately four minutes apart as Fordham stayed unbeaten at home with a 2-1 victory over the Musketeers.

The first half went scoreless between the Rams and Musketeers, despite Fordham having an 8-1 shot advantage. Xavier goalkeeper Katie Markesbery was busy in goal with five first half saves compared to one by Fordham goalkeeper Rachel Suther.

The shot advantage didn't mean much early in the second half, when Xavier put home the first goal of the contest in the 50th minute. Leslie Twehues' initial shot was stopped by Suther, but Leslie Boersma was right there for the rebound for Xavier, knocking the ball into the net for second goal of the season.

The score remained in Xavier's favor until Fordham tied the game in the 66th minute. Fordham's Mariella Romano stole the ball away from a Xavier midfielder, and quickly put a through pass to Kristina Maksuti to put in her into the box. Maksuti then blasted a shot inside the right post for her ninth goal of the season.

Just over four minutes later, the Rams grabbed a 2-1 lead off some quick footwork by Fordham forward Annie Worden. A cross by Michaela Murphy from the right side found Maksuti near the top of the box. Maksuti's attempt at a pass deflected off a Xavier defender, which found Worden's feet, and Worden quickly lifted a shot, scoring to the top left corner of the goal for her fourth tally of the season. The Rams were able to hold off the Musketeers over the final 20 minutes, as Suther wrapped up her fifth win of the season with three more saves for a total of four on the night. Xavier's Markesbery ended the match with nine 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 four assists in 11 games. She also has one multi-goal game and four game-winning goals to her credit.

Maksuti's 22 points are already just one shy of the freshman scoring record at Fordham, which is 23, held by Sarah Hopkins, back in 2003.

On the national scene, she ranked 30th in the NCAA in points per game (1.90 ppg), 25th in goals per game (0.8 gpg), and 12th in game-winning goals (4).