Women’s Soccer Heads Toward Big Week of A-10 Action

Bronx, N.Y. - After a pair of 1-0 victories last week, the Fordham women's soccer team is right in the mix of the Atlantic 10 playoff hunt with two big conference contests this week.  Fordham begins the week with a game at Saint Louis on Thursday night, and then returns home to face Dayton on Sunday afternoon on Cancer Awareness Day
 
Fordham (7-3-3, 2-0-2 A10) recorded back-to-back 1-0 wins against VCU and St. Bonaventure to get back on track in the Atlantic 10.  Lane Cronin scored the game-winning goal in both contests and was named the Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week, while Megan Fitzgerald was named the conference's co-Defensive Player of the Week backstopping both shutouts for the Rams.  Fordham will have its hands full on Thursday with Saint Louis, who stands at 10-2-1 record, 3-0-1 in the Atlantic 10.  The Billikens are averaging two goals per game, led by Danielle Tolmais, who has eight goals and 18 points this season.  Dayton enters the week at 3-7-2 with a 1-2-1 mark in the conference.  Alexis Kiehl is the player to watch for the Flyers, as she has nine goals and 19 points this season, both team-highs.
 
GAME COVERAGE:
Thursday – Fordham at Saint Louis – 8:00 PM (7:00 PM CT) – Live Stats | Live Video (Free) | Follow on Twitter @FordhamWSoccer
 
Sunday – Dayton at Fordham – 1:00 PM - Live Stats | Live Video (Free) | Follow on Twitter @FordhamWSoccer
 
SERIES HISTORY: For Fordham and Saint Louis, it will be seventh meeting between the two schools with each winning three times on their home field.  The most notable contest was the second one, as the Billikens topped Fordham, 2-1, for the 2006 Atlantic 10 Championship.  The Rams have not had much success against the Dayton Flyers in 19 all-time meetings, going 2-14-3.  Fordham's last win against the Flyers came in 2008, a 3-2 decision in Dayton.
 
RAMS TO HAVE CANCER AWARENESS DAY ON OCTOBER 16^th: The Fordham women's soccer team will have their Cancer Awareness Day on Sunday, October 16^th, in conjunction with the team's game against the Dayton Flyers.  The team will once again wear pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness and purple shoelaces for pancreatic cancer awareness.  In addition to the game bringing awareness, the Rams will be raising funds for the Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care.  Donations in the team's name can be made by going here.  As another part of the fundraising effort, the team will be taking donations at the Marketing Tent table on the October 16^th gameday.  All who donate will get to hang a pink or purple paper Ram with their name or name of loved one at the game.
 
CRONIN & FITZGERALD EARN WEEKLY A-10 AWARDS (10/10): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its weekly women's soccer award winners on Monday with two Fordham Rams being honored.  Sophomore forward Lane Cronin was named the league's Offensive Player of the Week, while senior goalkeeper Megan Fitzgerald received Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors.  It is the first career weekly award for both players.

 
Cronin netted the game-winning goal in both of the Rams' games this past week.  In a scoreless game on Thursday, she scored in the 86^th minute to give Fordham a 1-0 win and its first conference victory of the season.  Then on Sunday at St. Bonaventure, she was up to task again, registering the game-winning goal in the 103^rd minute of the second overtime period for another 1-0 win.  Cronin is now tied for the team-lead in goals with three this year.
 
Fitzgerald got the start in both victories this week, posting shutouts in both contests.  She had three saves in the shutout win over VCU, while making two stops in the double overtime victory at St. Bonaventure.  They were the first two shutouts of the season for Fitzgerald, giving her 12 in her career and moving her into sole possession of third place on Fordham's career shutouts list.
 
LAST TIME OUT (10/9): It was a little bit of déjà vu for the Fordham women's soccer team on Sunday afternoon at St. Bonaventure.  The Rams went to overtime for the third time in four Atlantic 10 contests this season, but unlike last week which saw a pair of draws, Fordham was able to pull out the win, when Lane Cronin scored in the 103^rd minute for the 1-0 victory.  It was her second game-winning goal of the week.

Fordham had the better of the action throughout the game, posting 15 shots to just three by the Bonnies in regulation, but couldn't beat St. Bonaventure goalkeeper Lauren Malcolm, who made six saves in the first 90 minutes.
 
After a scoreless first 10 minutes of overtime, the Rams finally broke through in the 103^rd minute of the game.  Fordham goalkeeper Megan Fitzgerald started the game-winning play with a long punt up field toward Lane Cronin.  Cronin battled Sydney Cassagnol one-on-one all the way to the endline, just to the right of the St. Bonaventure net.  Cassagnol lost her footing by the endline and fell down, allowing Cronin to wheel-around and get off a shot that found the upper left corner of goal for the game-winner.  It was Cronin's third goal of the season.
 
Malcolm ended the game with nine saves for the Bonnies, while Fitzgerald had two stops for the Rams for her second consecutive shutout.
 
WHO'S NEXT: After this week's games, the Fordham women's soccer team continues Atlantic 10 play on Thursday, October 20^th with a home match against George Washington, while taking on Richmond on Sunday, October 23^rd for Senior Day.