After a 1-0 win in the A-10 quarterfinals on Thursday, the Fordham men's soccer team is right back at it on Friday in the conference semifinals at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Virginia. It'll be the Battle of the Rams for the second year, as Fordham takes on the eighth-seeded VCU Rams at 5:00 PM, as VCU upset top seed George Washington, 4-0, on Thursday.
These two teams met in last year's Atlantic 10 quarterfinals, playing to a scoreless tie through 110 minutes. Fordham then advanced on penalty kicks, 5-3, as the Maroon & White converted on all five penalty kicks, while
Sean Brailey saved the third VCU attempt by Mario Herrera Meraz.
SERIES HISTORY: This is the fifth all-time meeting between VCU and Fordham with the majority being ties. VCU has one win back in 2013, while the other three meetings were all ties (once in 2012, twice in 2014).
LAST TIME OUT: It was a physical, intense match-up in the second Atlantic 10 quarterfinal at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Virginia. But what else would you expect when the two teams played just five days ago? Unlike that decision which went to Massachusetts, Thursday's decision went to Fordham, as the Rams posted a 1-0 victory to advance to Friday's conference semifinal.
Ryan Cupolo The game was tightly played in the first half, as each team registered just four shots with no goals being scored.
In the 83
rd minute, Fordham finally broke through with the only goal of the game.
Eric Ohlendorf slipped a pass to
Jannik Loebe cutting in from the right side. Loebe was able to cross the ball past the UMass defensive line to an open
Janos Loebe at the top of the six-yard box. He was pulled down with a wide open net in front of him and a penalty kick was awarded to Fordham. Jannik then stepped to the penalty spot and drilled home his fifth goal of the season for the game-winning goal.
In net, Fordham's
Rashid Nuhu returned to make one save for his sixth shutout of the season, while Becerra made four stops for the Minutemen.
WHAT'S NEXT: With a win today, Fordham would advance to Sunday's Atlantic 10 Championship with a chance at defending their title from a year ago. The last team to repeat as Atlantic 10 Champions was Xavier in 2010 and 2011. The game is set for noon and will be televised by the American Sports Network (ASN), and will be shown in New York on SportsNet NY (SNY).
