Men’s Soccer Clinches A-10 Championship Berth on Senior Night

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Going up against the #1-ranked offense in the country, the Fordham men's soccer team had their work cut out for them, missing five regulars due to various ailments.  However, a number of Rams stepped up and answered the bell, earning a 1-1 tie against the Dayton Flyers on Senior Night at Jack Coffey Field, clinching a spot in the 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship tournament.
 
The tie put Fordham's record at 6-6-4 on the season, 4-2-1 in Atlantic 10, while Dayton moved to 10-4-3 overall, 5-0-2 in the conference.
 
Fordham got on the board first in the sixth minute on a brilliant play from Ryan Walsh and Janos Loebe.  Walsh collected a deflected ball and slipped a pass to an oncoming Loebe at the top of the box.  Loebe one-touched the ball through the legs of Dayton's Lalas Abubakar and past goalkeeper Justin Saliba inside the right post for his fifth goal of the season.
 
Dayton applied all sorts of pressure on the banged up Rams' defense looking for the equalizer.  The Fordham defensive core of Matthew Lewis, Greg McNamara, Kyle Losi, Vincenzo Zuccala, and Patrick Thees held strong though, blocking countless shots throughout, while goalkeeper Dan Miklos made seven saves through 80 minutes of action.
 
However in the 81^st minute, the Flyers would breakthrough with the tying goal.  Anthony Keene took a corner kick from the right side that was flicked left by Maik Schoonderwoerd.   Abubakar collected the ball and knocked it past Miklos from six yards out for his second goal of the year.

 
The game remained tied, pushing the match into overtime.  In the extra session, Dayton's Amass Amankona was sent on a breakaway attempt in the 93^rd minute, but his shot attempt from nine yards out was stopped by Miklos, keeping the game tied.  Then, the match was on the foot of Dayton's James Haupt in the 98^th minute, as he got the ball off a deflection 15 yards out, but his shot sailed over the crossbar out of harm.
 
The Rams held up the score at one all for the rest of overtime, coming away with the 1-1 tie, and clinching their second straight Atlantic 10 Championship berth.
 
In goal, Miklos finished with a season-high eight saves, while Dayton's Saliba made one.
 
The Fordham men's soccer team will next be in action on Saturday, November 7^th, when the Rams travel to Amherst to meet the Massachusetts Minutemen at noon for the regular season finale.