Bronx, N.Y. – (October 13, 2022) – The Fordham men's soccer team starts the stretch run toward the Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday, as the Rams head to Philadelphia for a crucial conference match at Saint Joseph's.
Fordham (3-2-7, 1-1-3 A10) is in a four-way tie for sixth place in the conference standings with three league matches remaining. The Rams saw their 10-match unbeaten streak snapped in their last contest against Saint Louis, falling by a 2-1 count at Jack Coffey Field. Fordham's lone goal came from
Florian Deletioglu, netting his third goal of the season, and moving into second on the team in scoring.
One of the teams that Fordham is trying to fend off for an Atlantic 10 playoff spot is Saturday's opponent, Saint Joseph's. The Hawks (2-5-6, 1-1-3 A10) are tied with Fordham at six points, along with George Washington and VCU. Saint Joseph's is coming off a non-conference loss to Hofstra on October 11
th, while in league play, the Hawks have draws against Massachusetts and Duquesne in their last two conference contests. The Hawks have nine goals on the year with only Blake Driehuis having multiple tallies with two.
GAME COVERAGE:
Saturday – Fordham at Saint Joseph's - 5:00 PM –
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SERIES HISTORY: Saturday's meeting at Saint Joseph's will be the 23
rd all-time meeting between the two Jesuit institutions. Fordham leads the series with a 13-6-3 record with the teams playing to a 1-1 draw at Jack Coffey Field last season in the regular season finale.
Sameer Fathazada scored the Rams' lone goal in that game as the Rams' clinched a top four-seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship.
SOCIAL MEDIA: Make sure to follow the Fordham Rams all season long on their social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram - @FordhamSoccer
LAST TIME OUT: After rallying back to earn draws in each of their last three contests, the Fordham Rams came up short of a fourth straight rally, falling to the Saint Louis Billikens by a 2-1 score in men's soccer action on Saturday night at Jack Coffey Field.
The Billikens started the scoring in the 12
th minute, as CJ Coppola knocked in a rebound off a John Klein shot for his fourth of the season.
Saint Louis extended the lead in the 72
nd minute to 2-0. After a clearance, Christian Buendia put a long ball into the box that found its way to Grady Easton inside the six-yard box for the header deflection into the net for his second marker of the season.
Fordham cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 88
th minute.
Daniel Espeleta used a head flick to get the ball to
Nathan Simes, who got a through ball to
Florian Deletioglu for a mini breakaway. Deletioglu then slipped a left footed shot past the keeper for his third goal of the season.
The Rams had a final chance in the last minute to try and get an equalizer but a shot by
Daniel D'Ippolito slid just wide right of the Billikens' goal.
In net, Carlos Tofern made five saves for the Billikens, while
Callum James had three stops for the Rams.
NEWCOMERS SHOWING OUT: Fordham has seen the newest additions to the roster for the 2022 season contribute early and often. Newcomers have accounted for 13 of the 19 goals on the season, led by freshman
Nathan Simes with five. The Rams also have two goals from
Ben Shepherd,
Timo Hummrich, and
Daniel Espeleta, and single markers by
Paolo Primavera and
Jakob Gesien on the year. The Rams also have a newcomer in goal with
Demetri Skoumbakis, who through nine matches has three shutouts, a 1.11 goals against average, and 29 total saves.
FIT TO BE TIED: With the decision to not play overtime during the regular season, the men's soccer season has seen plenty of draws this season and Fordham has been no exception. The Rams have played to a tie score on seven occasions in 2022, which is already a program record. The previous high was five in 2005 and 2006.
RAMSES CHALLENGE: As a part of a new fundraising challenge this season, fans can pledge support for the team in the Ramses Challenge for each goal the men's soccer team scores this season.
Be a part of the challenge by clicking here.
WHO'S NEXT: Following this match, the Rams stay on the road for their next Atlantic 10 contest, as the team heads to Pittsburgh for a match at Duquesne, starting at 7:00 PM.
