Providence, R.I. -
It was a memorable weekend for the Fordham men's soccer team as it swept a pair of games at the Brown Soccer Classic in Providence, Rhode Island with a 2-1, golden-goal win over Siena, followed by an upset of #22 Brown in the final. For their accomplishments, four Rams were named to the All-Tournament Team with Nathaniel Bekoe being named the MVP for his outstanding play from his defensive midfield position.
The Rams opened the tournament with a 2-1 defeat of the Saints in overtime. Bekoe picked up an assist on the game-winning goal, which came courtesy of Tommy Granot in the 99th minute. Michael Valencia, who found the back of the net earlier in the game off of a feed from Kalle Sotka to open the scoring, also earned a helper on the marker.
The Fordham defense, led by All Tournament honoree Ryan Curran, held Siena to 12 shots, with none coming in overtime; conversely the Rams took 22 attempts in all.
Not to be outdone by Friday's overtime thriller with Siena, Fordham recorded the perfect denouement on Sunday with a 1-0 upset of #22 Brown. Against the Bears, goalie Sean Brailey recorded six saves to earn the clean sheet as Sotka scored the only goal of the contest off assists from Jack Bouchard and Kyle Bitterman.
Bitterman, a freshman, started both games and was named to the All-Tournament Team following the conclusion of play.
With the win over the Bears, Fordham now owns a 3-1 mark in its last four contests against ranked opponents. The team defeated #23 Xavier and #10 Charlotte in 2011, while falling to #5 Creighton.
It was a memorable weekend for the Fordham women's soccer team as well, as they went to College Park, Maryland on Sunday, and upset the Maryland Terrapins, 1-0. This was the first time the women's team has ever beaten a team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Fordham men have now won two games in a row and have a 3-2 overall record. The team has a pair of road games left (at Stony Brook on Friday, September 14 at 7:30 and at Yale on Friday, September 21 at 7:00 PM) before returning home to face Manhattan College in the Battle of the Bronx on Friday, September 28.