Amherst, Mass. – In the first meeting between the two teams since 2013, the Fordham Rams and the UMass Minutewomen gave the fans plenty to cheer about with a combined five goals in their Atlantic 10 women's soccer contest on Sunday afternoon. In the end, it was Fordham coming away with a big 3-2 road victory at UMass' Rudd Field.
With the win, Fordham improves to 5-3-3 overall, 2-0 in the Atlantic 10, while UMass fell to 4-5-1 on the year, 1-1 in the league. It is Fordham's second 2-0 start to begin league action in the last three years.
The Minutewomen opened the scoring in the 20
th minute, when Erin Doster netted her fourth goal of the season, coming off an assist from Sarah Beaulieu.
Fordham answered right back in the 22
nd minute, when
Clara Gastaldi scored her first goal of the season.
Rachel Collage played a ball to the center of the box, defecting off
Lane Cronin right to Gastaldi. Gastaldi then lined up the shot from 18 yards and snuck it inside the right post.
Lane Cronin
The Rams then took advantage of a great ball into the box by
Morgan Busacca in the 27
th minute, as Cronin headed in her first goal of the season, just inside the post, for a 2-1 lead for Fordham.
In the second half, Fordham extended the lead to 3-1 on a brilliant play by
Amanda Miller. On the left side of the field,
Crea Baker-Durante sent Miller on a run. Miller then put on the breaks to get away from a UMass defender and then picked the top right corner of the goal from 15 yards for her team-leading third marker of the season.
Morgan Busacca
The Minutewomen did close back within one in the 88
th minute, as Sini Laaksonen converted on a penalty kick, but Fordham would hold off UMass over the final two minutes to finish off the 3-2 road win.
In net,
Kelly LaMorte made three saves to earn the win for Fordham, while Cassidy Babin had one for UMass.
The Fordham women's soccer team will next be in action on Thursday, September 28
th, when the Rams travel to George Washington for a 4:00 PM conference match.
