Ricupati’s Late Goal Puts Rams in A-10 Semifinal

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St. Louis, Mo. – (November 9, 2019) – One moment, one chance.  It was all the Fordham Rams were looking for on Saturday afternoon in their Atlantic 10 Championship quarterfinal match at Saint Louis.  The Rams ended up getting that moment when Filippo Ricupati scored the lone goal of the contest in the 87^th minute to send Fordham to the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals with a 1-0 win over the Billikens at Hermann Stadium.
 
The first half featured a couple of highlight reel saves from the starting goalkeepers for both teams, keeping the match scoreless.  In the fourth minute, Saint Louis' John Klein made a run that Fordham goalkeeper Konstantin Weis came out to challenge and made the stop to the left side.
 
Then in the eighth minute, Fordham had a golden chance, as Sameer Fathazada made a run into the box and was fouled, awarding a penalty kick to the Rams.  Joergen Oland stepped the spot, but his attempt was saved by Patrick Schulte toward the right post.  Schulte came up with another big stop in the 16^th minute, as a Fathazada cross found Pieles for a header that Schulte punched over the bar.

 
Pieles had another chance to get Fordham's first tally in the 32^nd minute, as he noticed the goalkeeper out from his goal.  Pieles wound up a shot from distance, just outside the center circle and hit the crossbar.
 
At the other end, Weis added three more saves to his total for the 0-0 score at the half with his best in the 36^th minute.  A free kick was put into the box for a header by Mujeeb Murana to the top left corner, which Weis was able to punch over the bar.
 
The second half began similar to the first half with a penalty kick attempt.  This time, Saint Louis was the beneficiary, getting the chance in the 46^th minute.  Devin Boyce stepped to the spot and shot left, which Weis stopped with the rebound coming back into play.  The second chance went wide of goal, keeping the game scoreless.

 
The next prime chance for either team came in the 77^th minute on a Saint Louis free kick that Weis was again up to the task, making a diving save to the right side, his sixth of the match.
 
Then, in the 87^th minute, Fordham capitalized on a Saint Louis turnover for the lone goal of the game.  Murana attempted a play back to his keeper, but ended up playing the ball right to Fordham's Filippo Ricupati, who touched it past the Saint Louis goalkeeper inside the right post for his team-leading sixth goal of the season.
 
The Rams (7-10-2) then bled out the final three minutes of the contest to secure the 1-0 win and advance to the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals, which along with the championship final will be held at Fordham's Jack Coffey Field.  Fordham will play in the 1:00 PM match on Friday, November 15^th, and face the winner of the Rhode Island/Davidson quarterfinal match.