On This Date Presented by Belmont Realty
 
With the 2020 fall sports season canceled by the COVID-19 outbreak, we at Fordham have decided to dig back through our archives and provide our fans with content on some of the outstanding teams and student-athletes who have graced Rose Hill over the years.
 
November 3, 1964 – (Bronx, N.Y) – The Fordham men's cross country team won its first varsity Championship in the thirty-eight year history of the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Athletic Association at Van Cortlandt Park.
 
They defeated archrival Manhattan and eight other competing schools to win this title for Fordham. The win would not be classed as a complete upset but certainly was a surprise to most MET track fans.  The Rams had a score of 63 points to runner-up Manhattan with 67.
 
The Ram attack was led by co-captain Matteo Cucchiara, who finished fifth in the race. His time of 26:19 for the five-mile course erased the school record of 26:25, set by Joe McGovern in this meet in 1963. Cucchiara had been consistently running well and deserved a great deal of credit for the success of the team.  He was instrumental in bringing back to the team the spirit that was lacking so much in the past.
 
He was followed by co-captain Terry Ryan, who like Cucchiara was running his last Metropolitan Championship and took advantage of this chance to defeat junior Jim Meehan, with whom he had been battling all year. Ryan finished 13th in 27:11 and Meehan finished 14th in 27:16.
 
In 15th place was sophomore Dan Henry, followed by fellow sophomore Bob Fleming in 16th place.  Coach O'Connor attributed the victory to a tremendous team effort.
 
 
November 3, 1970 – (Bronx, N.Y.) – The Fordham soccer team snapped a seven-game losing streak and registered its first victory of the season by edging Fairleigh Dickinson, 3-2, on Edwards Parade.
 
Forward Ifeatu Otue and goalkeeper Jack McCabe were the stars of the contest. Otue scored all three goals for a hat trick, while McCabe was spectacular in his first soccer game.  The hat trick was just the third-ever for the Rams, joining Carlos Fernandez (1952) and Felix Oruambo (1969).
 
The first quarter was a defensive battle as both goalies came up with big stops to keep the game scoreless.  It was not until the final nine seconds of the period that Fordham captured a 1-0 advantage.  Otue gathered in an Ian Wong pass and from a sharp left angle, beat Knights goalie Jim Price to the right side of goal.  In the second quarter, both squads had numerous chances to score but only FDU's Connie Jamison was successful, knotting the score at one.
 
Fordham seized the momentum early in the third quarter as the Rams pressured the Knights' defense breaking through at the seven-minute mark.  Otue rammed an indirect kick through a screen for a 2-1 Fordham lead.
 
Four and a half minutes into the final period, Fordham's Jim Prokop and Otue combined on a picture-perfect play and a 3-1 edge.  Prokop, dribbling down the right side, spotted Otue streaking toward the goal on the left and fed him with a perfect pass.  Otue beat Price once again with a 15-yard drive for the hat trick.  Less than a minute later Suran Kilerclyan brought the Knights to within a goal at 3-2, but a stingy Fordham defense and the goaltending of McCabe denied them the game-tying marker. 
 
Coach Frank Schnur cited the defense, the goaltending and a team effort, as the formula to the victory.

 

November 3, 2006 – (St. Louis, Mo.) – Box Score - After posting a come-from-behind win in the opening round of the 2006 Atlantic 10 Women's Championship, the Fordham Rams did not need those heroics in their semifinals match against Charlotte, posting a 2-1 win to advance to their first-ever A-10 Championship final.
 
The game was scoreless into the 20 final minutes of regulation when the Rams punched through for the opening goal.  Haley Lentsch took a pass from Holly Laubinger and scored on a drive from 14-yards out for the 1-0 lead.
 
Less than eight minutes later, the Rams got the all-important 2-0 lead, when Catherine Huvane's shot was stopped by Juli Black, but Leah Jerome pounced on the rebound and scored for the two-goal edge.
 
Charlotte would close the gap to 2-1 on a goal by Lindsey Ozimek, but the 49ers could not find the equalizer as the Rams advanced to their first A-10 Championship match.
 
In goal, Elisabeth Roald made three saves in the win for Fordham, while Black had three for the 49ers.