Men’s Soccer Meets Saint Louis in #A10MSOC Championship Semifinal on Thursday

Bronx, N.Y. – (April 14, 2021) – After winning the Atlantic 10 North Division, the Fordham Rams are in the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Championship for the seventh consecutive year and are seeded third for the championship, which will be held at Dayton's Baujan Field on April 15^th and 17^th.
 
The Rams will face the second-seeded Saint Louis Billikens in the second semifinal match at 4:00 PM, while the opening match between top-seeded Dayton and fourth-seeded George Washington is at noon.  Both matches can be seen on ESPN+.
 
Fordham (5-0-2, 3-0-2 A-10) just finished an unbeaten regular season on Saturday with a 2-0 victory at Saint Joseph's.  The Rams are searching for their fourth league championship, having won the Atlantic 10 crown in 1996, 2014, and 2016.  With this semifinal appearance, Fordham has made the conference semifinals in six of the past seven seasons.

 

The Rams have gotten contributions from all over the field, as six different players have scored in this abbreviated season, while 11 players have at least one point.  Entering the championship, Sameer Fathazada and Florian Deletioglu lead the Rams with three goals and one assist each, while Luke McNamara also had three goals on the year.

Defensively, the Rams have been just as strong with a 0.52 goals against average and four shutouts, led by goalkeeper Josh Levine, who has played every minute and twice was named Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Week this season.
 
Saint Louis (9-4-0, 4-2-0) earned the wild card spot in the Championship after finishing second in the Atlantic 10 West Division.  The Billikens are led by Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year, Patrick Schulte and First Team All-Atlantic 10 forward Simon Becher.  Schulte allowed just seven goals over 13 starts for a 0.53 GAA, recording four shutouts, while Becher had a team-best five goals and tied for the team lead with 12 points.
 
GAME COVERAGE:
Thursday – Fordham vs. Saint Louis – 4:00 PM // Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Video (International Feed) | Live Stats | Follow on Twitter/InstaGram/Facebook - @FordhamSoccer
 
A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: This is Fordham's 13^th appearance at the Atlantic 10 Championship, posting a 9-8-3 record and winning three conference titles in 1996, 2014, and 2016.  The Rams have had good success when the Championship is in Dayton, posting a 3-1 mark in games played at Baujan Field, which included winning the 1996 crown.
 
In Fordham's three championship runs, the Rams' goalkeepers have earned the Most Outstanding Performer of the Championship all three times (Jim Grandinetti – 1996; Sean Brailey – 2014; Rashid Nuhu – 2017).
 
SERIES HISTORY: This is the 13^th all-time meeting between Fordham and Saint Louis and the fourth time that the match has happened at the Atlantic 10 Championship.  Saint Louis holds the overall lead in the series at 7-5, while Fordham has the edge at the Championship with a 2-1 mark.  The squads first met at the Championship in 2008 in Pittsburgh with the Billikens earning a 2-0 win, while Fordham's victories came in 2014 in Richmond (2-1) and most recently in 2019 in St. Louis (1-0).

 

McNAMARA & BOHM EARN A-10 HONORS: Prior to the start of the Atlantic 10 Championship, the Atlantic 10 Conference announced the Men's Soccer All-Conference teams and major award winners.  Among the honorees, Fordham senior Luke McNamara was named First Team All-Atlantic 10, while senior Jacob Bohm was selected to the Academic All-Conference team.  This marks the seventh consecutive season that Fordham has had a First Team honoree.
 
McNamara started all seven games that Fordham played at defender this spring.  Playing every minute, he led a Fordham defense that posted four shutouts and a 0.52 goals against average, while finishing with an unbeaten record (5-0-2).  He also contributed on the offensive end, tying for the team-lead with a career-best three goals and was named Atlantic 10 Offensive Player of the Week once this season.
 
Bohm, a Communications & Culture major with a 3.72 GPA, is a three-year member of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Fordham University's Dean's List.  A 2021 team captain, he played in six of the Rams' seven games this season, posting one assist from his midfielder position, which was on the game-winning goal at Saint Joseph's.
 
LAST TIME OUT (4/10): With how close the Atlantic 10 standings are, everything was on the line in the Fordham Rams' men's soccer contest at Saint Joseph's on Saturday.  The Rams came through with a huge 2-0 victory over the Hawks at Sweeney Field.
 
After a few close calls which included a header by Max Rogers off the left post in the 11^th minute, the Rams scored twice in a span of three minutes in the first half to get out to a 2-0 lead.  In the 33^rd minute, Fordham was awarded a corner kick on the near side of the field, which Jacob Bohm put into play.  His cross found Luke McNamara for the header goal, his third marker of the season, and a 1-0 lead.
 
Just 2:50 later, Fordham put home its second goal of the game, once again on a header.  This time, Brandon Golden had the ball out wide near the sideline.  His cross into the box found a returning Matt Sloan to the Rams' lineup for the header goal for his second marker of the season.  The Rams' defense then locked the match down from there, recording its fourth shutout in seven matches.  Goalkeeper Josh Levine was credited with three saves for his fourth clean sheet of the season.

 

LEVINE NAMED A-10 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK (4/12): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its final weekly men's soccer awards on April 12^th with Fordham graduate student goalkeeper Josh Levine receiving Defensive Player of the Week honors.  It was Levine's second consecutive Player of the Week award.
 
In his lone appearance, Levine helped the Rams cap an unbeaten regular season at 5-0-2 and secure a spot in the Atlantic 10 Championship.  He backstopped Fordham to a 2-0 win over Saint Joseph's on Saturday, making three saves in the contest for his fourth shutout in seven games this spring.
 
Levine currently ranks in the top 30 nationally in goals against average (10^th – 0.52), save percentage (6th - .882), saves per game (29^th – 4.29), and shutouts (T-26th - 4).  His marks in GAA and save percentage both top the Atlantic 10.
 
COMING UP BIG, WHEN IT COUNTS: Since joining the Rams in 2018, senior Sameer Fathazada always seems to have a flare for the dramatic and has continued that trend this spring.  After netting three game-winning goals in his first two seasons, he has added three more to the ledger in 2021.
 
IMMEDIATE IMPACT: With a short season, the impact of newcomers is vital to a team's success and that has certainly been the case for Fordham this spring.  Seven different newcomers have registered at least one point, led by freshman Florian Deletioglu, who has three goals and an assist.  Fellow freshmen Galen Flynn and Max Rogers have also contributed with a goal and an assist each, while Sebastian Fabrin has been a staple in the Rams' backline.
 
Aside from the freshmen, Fordham transfers Matt Sloan (2 goals, 1 assist), Lennart Keßner (1 assist), Alberto Pangrazzi (1 assist), Brandon Golden (1 assist) and Josh Levine (0.52 GAA, 4 shutouts) have all played big parts in the Rams' unbeaten spring.
 
WHO'S NEXT: If the Rams win, they will advance to the Atlantic 10 Championship title match on Saturday, April 17^th, set for noon, against the winner of Dayton-George Washington.