Aug. 25, 2012

GameTracker Live Stats | Watch

Bronx, N.Y. - After a hard-luck, 1-0 setback at Rutgers to open the 2012 campaign on Friday night, the Fordham men's soccer team returns to the friendly pitch at Jack Coffey Field for its home opener against Adelphi on Sunday, August 26 at 1:00 PM.

The Rams had several scoring chances in the opener as Taylor Gulbins, Kalle Sotka and Julian Nagel all had runs at the net for Fordham, while sophomore goalie Sean Braileymade his inaugural debut between the pipes. In the game with the Scarlet Knights, eight Fordham players saw their first action with the team, including five in the starting lineup.

The 2011 Rams posted a 4-2-1 home record including wins over Charlotte and Lehigh. Fordham did meet Adelphi in Garden City last year and the Panthers came away with the 2-1 victory. In that contest, Jack-Tim Murphy scored the Rams lone marker off an assist from John Niyonsaba. Current Rams Andre Seidenthal and Casper Gimandeach had a shot on goal in that game as well.

The Rams' return several key players from the 2011 team that shared the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship in Nathaniel Bekoe, Ryan Curran, Michael Valencia and Michael Stalker. Bekoe has been named to the 2012 Hermann Trophy Watch List, while Curran was a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honoree. Stalker and Valencia are the leading returning scorers from a year ago.

This will be the thirty-second time that the two schools have met on the pitch and Adelphi leads the all-time series 26-3-2, including victories in the last five meetings.

Following the game with Adelphi, Fordham will welcome the Hartford Hawks to Jack Coffey Field for a Friday evening matchup on August 31st at 7:00 PM. After that, the team will take to the road for four games before returning home to host Manhattan College on September 28.