Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham women's soccer team is set to host its final two home games of the season this week, as the Rams take on George Washington on Thursday, while hosting Richmond on Sunday for Senior Day.
With four conference games remaining, Fordham (8-4-3, 3-1-2 A10) is right in the thick of the playoff hunt, sitting in sixth place in the Atlantic 10 standings. Thursday will have a big game feel to it, as George Washington (10-4-1, 4-1-1 A10) sits just two points ahead of Fordham in the standings. The Colonials, who won the regular season title last season, are having another excellent season and are led by MacKenzie Cowley, who has a team-high nine goals and 19 points, and Miranda Horn, who has given up only eight goals in 15 games with seven shutouts in net. Richmond (7-7-1, 2-4-0) heads into the week, having lost three of its last four games, and will be hungry for points with the season's end in sight. Lexi Prillaman is the player to watch for Richmond with ten goals and five assists for 25 points this season.
GAME COVERAGE:
Thursday – George Washington at Fordham – 1:00 PM -
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Sunday – Richmond at Fordham – 1:00 PM -
Live Stats |
Live Video (Free) |
Follow on Twitter @FordhamWSoccer
SERIES HISTORY: Thursday's meeting between Fordham and George Washington will be the 16
th in the series. The teams are dead even with six wins apiece and three ties, following George Washington's 1-0 win over Fordham last season. For Fordham and Richmond, this is the 13
th meeting between the Rams and Spiders with Richmond holding a 7-4-1 edge in the series. Fordham though has gotten the better of games lately, winning three of the last four, including a 3-0 win at Richmond last season.
LAST TIME OUT (10/16): Two first half goals by
Nicol Natale and
Clara Gastaldi and some excellent defensive play was the perfect formula for the Fordham Rams to kick-off a three-game homestand on Sunday, as they toppled the Dayton Flyers, 2-1, on Cancer Awareness Day at Jack Coffey Field. The victory marked just the third time that Fordham has beaten Dayton in 20 all-time meetings and the first since 2008.
The Rams wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, scoring on the first shot of the game in the third minute.
Rachel Collage put a long ball just to the edge of the six-yard box, where
Nicol Natale flicked a header into the top left corner of the goal for her third marker of the season.
Nicol Natale
Dayton quickly knotted the game at one in the 15
th minute on a brilliant individual effort by Alexis Kiehl. Micayla Livingston put a through ball to Kiehl right at the right corner of the six-yard box. Kiehl put on the breaks to lose the Fordham defender and cut back for a shot from ten yards, scoring her team-leading tenth goal of the season.
However the game did not stay tied for long, as Fordham capitalized on a Dayton miscue, deep in their own territory in the 27
th minute. A Dayton defender passed the ball back to her own keeper, Kaelyn Johns, but the pass had a little too much on it and Johns could not handle it. Fordham's
Clara Gastaldi quickly pounced on the ball and shot it into the open net from 15 yards out for her second goal of the season and a 2-1 Fordham lead. That lead would hold up, as Fordham keeper
Megan Fitzgerald made two saves in the second half, while punching away a number of crossing attempts into the box to keep the final score at 2-1.
In addition to the game, it was announced that Fordham women's soccer raised over $2,600 in donations for the Montefiore Einstein Center for Cancer Care.
WHO'S NEXT: After this week's games, the Fordham women's soccer team wraps up Atlantic 10 play on the road as they travel to Davidson on Thursday, October 27
th for a 7:00 PM game and then take on George Mason on Sunday, October 30
th at 1:00 PM.
