Box Score Sept. 27, 2011
Final Stats
Hempstead, N.Y. -
The Fordham men's soccer team entered Tuesday's game with Hofstra struggling to score goals. In seven games on the season, the Rams have tallied just five scores, and in the eighth, versus the Pride, they were held scoreless once again, losing 2-0.
Fordham pressed the action early on in the game. They were pushing the ball into the offensive end through the first ten minutes of action. The torrid pace benefited Fordham in the 13th minute. Matt Courtenay took the ball down the right side of the pitch and sent a beautiful cross to the far post where Julian Nagel got a foot to the ball, but the shot went just wide.
Hofstra had a chance to get on the board in the 23rd minute. Off of a corner kick, Maid Memic got in front of the defense and his deflection went wide of Ryan Meara and out of bounds. Less than a minute later, Memic went up the middle with the ball, got back a slew of Fordham defenders, and took a shot with his off foot that forced Meara to his left for the diving save. The score remained even at 0-0 through the half hour mark.
Meara made another big save in the 32nd minute. Hofstra's Chris Grenzig was on the right side and his blast was deflected away from danger by Meara. He made a pair of saves in the first half.
Fordham had a final run at the goal in the 42nd minute. After a Michael Stalker steal led to a three-on-two breakaway, first-half substitute, Aaron Markowitz, juked two defenders and took a blast that Pride keeper, Roberto Pellegrini, deflected out of the goal. However the ball ended up on the right foot of Andre Seidenthal who took a quick shot that went wide of the goal. The game remained scoreless at halftime.
In the 57th minute, Nathaniel Bekoe stole a centering pass in the offensive end; he got it outside to Stalker, who centered the ball to Markowitz in the box who lofted a shot over the goal. The score remained at 0-0.
The Rams had another opportunity in the 67th minute. Tim Richardson took the ball in the 18-yard box and dribbled around the defender then let a shot go at the far post, which went just wide. Five minutes later, off of a Rams' free kick, Jack Bouchard got the ball in the right side of the box and put a head on it, but Pellegrini came off his line and made the deflection to keep the game scoreless.
In the 79th minute, Meara made the save of the game. From just inside the penalty box, Florian Popp curved a ball towards goal that Meara dove at and deflected out of bounds. On the ensuing corner kick Chris Griebsch hooked the ball into the box where Tommi Kjartansson got a diving header past a screened Meara to give the Pride a 1-0 lead.
On a scramble in front, from the left side, Fordham looked to counter as John Niyonsaba blasted a bullet at goal the Pellegrini got a mitt on and clear to safety in the 83rd minute that preserved the 1-0 lead for the Pride.
In the 85th minute, Hofstra extended its lead. Off the punt from Pellegrini, Memic placed a nice through ball to Brett Carrington, and Carrington put the ball low to Meara's left for a score.
The final score would be 2-0 for Hofstra. The Rams fall to 3-4-1 on the season while the Pride improve to 4-3. The Fordham men's soccer team returns to action this Friday, September 30, when they travel over to Riverdale to take on Manhattan College in the annual "Battle of the Bronx". The game with Jaspers gets underway at 7:00 P.M.
