Women’s Soccer Hits the Road for Final Weekend of Regular Season

Bronx, N.Y. - The Fordham women's soccer team remains right in the thick of the Atlantic 10 playoff races with two games remaining.  The Rams hit the road for both contests as they will be at Davidson on Thursday night and at George Mason on Sunday afternoon.
 
Fordham (9-4-4, 4-1-3 A10) currently sits in fifth place in the league standings, just a point behind Duquesne, two points behind Saint Louis, and three behind George Mason.  First, the Rams will take on Davidson (5-11-1, 1-6-1 A10) on Thursday at 7:00 PM.  The Wildcats have been better at home this season at 4-3-1, compared to a 1-8 record on the road.  Seeley Yoo and Virginia Jesselson are the leading scorers for Davidson with seven points each.  Sunday's match-up with George Mason could have big implications on seeding at next week's Atlantic 10 Championship.  The Patriots (12-5-0, 6-2-0 A10) are sitting in second place in the standings and are 7-3-0 at home.  Sarah Hardison leads the way for George Mason with eight goals and 18 points this season.
 
GAME COVERAGE:
Thursday – Fordham at Davidson –7:00 PM - Live Stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/davidson/wsoc/ | Live Video (PPV) - http://www.atlantic10.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?&db_oem_id=31600&mid=96912 | Follow on Twitter @FordhamWSoccer
 
Sunday – Fordham at George Mason – 1:00 PM - Live Stats - http://www.gomason.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml | Live Video (PPV) - http://www.atlantic10.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?catid=0&id=1734494&db_oem_id=31600 | Follow on Twitter @FordhamWSoccer
 
SERIES HISTORY: Thursday's meeting between Fordham and Davidson will be the second all-time meeting between the two schools.  Fordham won the only previous match-up last season by a 2-0 count on goals from Kristina Maksuti and Caitlin Leen.  For Fordham and George Mason, this is the fifth meeting between the Rams and Patriots with George Mason holding a 2-0-2 edge in the series.  Last season, the two teams tied in the regular season finale, 1-1, courtesy of a late marker by Brianna Blunck.  Then just five days later, the team matched-up against in the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals, which also ended in a 1-1 tie, with Fordham advancing to the championship game on penalty kicks, 4-2.
 
LAST TIME OUT (10/23): Hollywood couldn't have scripted a better Senior Day for the Fordham women's soccer squad, as seniors Nicole Bates, Ally Doyle, and Nicol Natale all scored in their final home game to lead the Rams to a 3-1 win over the Richmond Spiders at Jack Coffey Field on Sunday.

  
All eight of Fordham's seniors, Bates, Doyle, Natale, Brianna Blunck, Rachel Myers, Turner Block, Sydney White, and Megan Fitzgerald, earned the start in their final home game and quickly gave Fordham a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute.  Brooke Salmon played a short corner out to Ally Doyle, who crossed the ball into the box.  The cross found the head of Nicole Bates for the deflection into the net for her third goal of the season.
 
Richmond knotted the game at one in the 19^th minute, when Brooke Beam fired in a cross from Lexi Prillaman into the goal from ten yards out for her third of the season.
 
The score remained tied until the early minutes of the second half.  Fordham again found the right connection on a corner kick as Salmon played another short corner to Doyle.  However, instead of getting the ball into the box like the previous goal, Doyle blistered a shot toward goal from 22 yards for her first career goal.

Fordham then capped the scoring in the 84^th minute, as Nicol Natale intercepted an errant pass to the Richmond backline and scored on a breakaway for her team-leading fourth goal of the season.
 
In net, Megan Fitzgerald made three saves in the win, while Carlie Blessing had three stops for the Spiders.
 
WHO'S NEXT: After this week's games, the Fordham women's soccer team will hopefully be punching their ticket to the 2016 Atlantic 10 Championship, which will be held at the University of Rhode Island from November 3^rd–6^th.