Aug. 26, 2011

Queens, N.Y. - The Fordham women's soccer team hits the pitch for game two of the 2011 season, when the team takes on the St. John's Red Storm at 7:00 PM on Friday in Queens. It is the second of three straight games against Big East opponents, as Fordham will end the stretch with a game at Rutgers on Monday.

LIVE COVERAGE: Links to video (pay SJU subscription) and GameTracker.

SERIES HISTORY: St. John's holds a 7-2-2 all-time record against the Rams, following a 1-0 decision at the Hofstra Invitational last year. Fordham's last win in the series was a 1-0 victory in 2001. Since that game, the Rams are 0-3 against the Red Storm

LAST TIME OUT: Lightning delays before and during the game. Heavy rain. 36 shots. Five goals. The opening women's soccer game of 2011 between Fordham and Seton Hall had just about everything you could imagine. In the end, it was Seton Hall's Taylor Wilson's 35-yard blast to the upper right corner of goal that turned out to be the difference in a 3-2 double overtime game at Owen T. Carroll Field in South Orange, New Jersey.

Wilson's game-winning goal put a disappointing finish on Fordham freshman Kristina Maksuti's debut, as she netted both Fordham goals on seven shots and just missed a hat trick as a shot rang off the crossbar in the second half.

Maksuti opened the scoring just over five minutes in the game, as she headed in a perfect left side cross from Maria Lorena Canicatti from seven yards out for her first career goal and a 1-0 Fordham lead.

After a pair of Seton Hall goals, Fordham knotted the game at two apiece in the 54th minute. The Rams answered with a perfect give-and-go between Annie Worden and Maksuti with Maksuti burying her second goal of the game.

Despite chances galore for both squads, the game would head into overtime, where Fordham was again snake bitten by the crossbar. Over four minutes into the extra session, Worden got loose from a Seton Hall defender and drilled another shot off the pipe from the top of the box.

Suther then came up big with two crucial saves in overtime, keeping the game tied at two, denying both Beamish and Soma. Suther though could not stop Wilson's blast at the 105:57 mark, giving Seton Hall the 3-2 double overtime decision.

Suther finished with five saves in the game for Fordham with Pettigrew also ending up with five saves on the evening.

TEAM CAPTAINS: Seniors Michaela Murphy and Mariella Romano have been voted as the team captains by the coaches and players for the 2011 season.

ATLANTIC 10 PRESEASON RANKINGS (8/11): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced coaches' predictions and the preseason All-Conference teams for women's soccer this afternoon with Fordham selected to finish sixth in the 14-team league.

Dayton, Charlotte, and Richmond were picked as the top three teams in the league, followed by La Salle in fourth, St. Bonaventure in fifth, and Fordham is sixth. The rest of the league in descending order is Massachusetts (7th), Duquesne (8th), Saint Louis (9th), George Washington (10th), Rhode Island (11th), Saint Joseph's (12th), Xavier (13th), and Temple (14th).

PRESEASON ACCOLADES FOR FRESHMAN CANICATTI (8/11): In addition to the preseason rankings, the coaches also voted on the preseason All-Conference and All-Rookie teams with Fordham freshman Maria Lorena Canicatti listed among the top newcomers in the league.

Canicatti was a Regional ODP player and a National Pool player since 2007, and attended the National Team training camp in Pomona, California in 2007. Her talent has kept her on the ENY State ODP team since 2005 and her club team, the Syosset Sting, have been State Cup Champions every year since 2008. Along with fellow incoming freshman Jessica Widmann, Canicatti helped her club make it to the finals of the 2010 US Youth Soccer U-17 National Championships.

In 2009, Canicatti was invited to the adidas Elite Soccer Program in Pomona, California, and, in 2010, she was one of four players from New York asked to play for the Region 1 team at the US Youth Soccer ODP girls Thanksgiving Inter-regionals in Florida.