Sept. 30, 2011

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham women's soccer team begins Atlantic 10 conference play on Friday, when the Rams host the Saint Joseph's Hawks at Jack Coffey Field.

Both teams come into today off shutout wins, as Fordham topped Columbia, 3-0, on Sunday, while Saint Joseph's has shutouts in each of its last three games.

LIVE COVERAGE: Links to Live Video and GameTracker.

SERIES HISTORY: Fordham is 8-5-2 all-time against the Hawks, winning four of the last five match-ups.

LAST TIME OUT: Three different Rams netted second half goals on Sunday, as the Fordham women's soccer quickly put last weekend behind them in a 3-0 win over the Columbia Lions at Jack Coffey Field. It was Fordham's first win over Columbia since 2006.

Fordham put together a solid first half, despite no goals being scored. The Rams finished with a 9-3 shot advantage over the Lions and controlled most of the play. Columbia's Jourdan Sayers, who saw her first action of the season, made two saves in the period, keeping Fordham off the scoreboard.

The Rams would find the net in the second half, starting in the 66th minute. Fordham's Rachel Madacsi picked up a loose ball off a Columbia defender near the top of the box, and blasted a shot, scoring to the top corner of the net for her first goal as a Ram.

Just seven minutes later, Fordham made it a 2-0 game off the foot of Kristina Maksuti. Annie Worden dished the ball to Maksuti, 30 yards from goal. Maksuti then floated a shot to the top left corner, sneaking it under the crossbar for her team-leading seventh goal of the season.

Fordham then sealed up the win in the 79th minute, when Mariella Romano received a pass from Maksuti, took a one-touch turn, and scored on a strike from 25 yards out. It was Romano's fourth goal of the season, tying her career-high from last season.

The Fordham defense continued to lock down on the Lions, as Columbia ended the game with six shots to Fordham's 18. Fordham goalkeeper Sarah Zieman was the beneficiary of that fine play, recording her sixth career shutout and first victory of the season.

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 seven goals and three assists in just eight games. She also has one multi-goal game and three game-winning goals to her credit.

Maksuti's 17 points are already just six shy of the freshman scoring record at Fordham, which is 23, held by Sarah Hopkins, back in 2003.

On the national scene, she ranked 19th in the NCAA in points per game (2.13 ppg), 22nd in goals per game (0.875 gpg), and 22nd in game-winning goals (3).