Photo GalleryBronx, N.Y. (October 5, 2014) – The Fordham University men's soccer squad opened its Atlantic 10 season today on Jack Coffey Field by falling to the University of Rhode Island, 1-0.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 3-6-1 overall, 0-1 in the Atlantic 10, while Rhode Island improves to 5-3-3, 1-0 in the conference.
Fordham had some chances early in the game as
Andres Penfold had two shots off a corner kick blocked in the seventh minute and an
Andrew Hickey shot in the 16
th minute was turned away.
A little over a minute later, Rhode Island scored the lone goal of the game as Ryan Oakley sent a cross into the box and Matt Sykes put it in the upper left corner from 16 yards for his fifth tally of the year.
A few minutes later, Rhode Island had a chance to take a 2-0 lead as Fordham was called for a foul in the box but Fordham keeper
Sean Brailey was able to stop Sykes' penalty kick as well as a rebound shot from Oakley.
Fordham had two shots on net in the second half, the first a header from
Aleksandar Mastilovic in the 74
th minute and the second by
Tomas Penfold in the 86
th as Fordham looked for the equalizer but Rhode Island keeper Nils Leifhelm was able to keep both shots out of the net.
Brailey finished with eight saves for Fordham, who outshot Rhode Island, 17-15, while Leifhelm had three for visiting Rams.
Fordham will return to action on Friday, October 10, as they travel to Philadelphia to face La Salle University in an Atlantic 10 match at 7:00 PM.
