Piscataway, N.J. – (September 26, 2022) – It was a grudge match between two top 50 RPI teams on Monday night, as the Fordham Rams and Rutgers Scarlet Knights played to a 1-1 men's soccer draw at Yurcak Field.
With the draw, Fordham extended its unbeaten streak to eight matches, moving to 3-1-5 on the year, while Rutgers went to 5-1-2 on the season.
The Fordham defense was the story of the first half, holding Rutgers off the scoreboard. Defender
Conrado Duhour was a one-man wall, blocking four of Rutgers' seven shots in the opening frame. Of the three that were not blocked, Fordham goalkeeper
Callum James stopped two, while the final one went wide.
The match opened up in the second half, as Rutgers scored in the 49
th minute to take a 1-0 lead. Jackson Temple crossed the ball to the center of the box for Pablo Avila, who connected on a sliding shot into the net for his second goal of the season.
A little over five minutes later, Fordham found the equalizer on a superb individual effort from
Daniel Espeleta. Espeleta picked up a loose ball in the box and picked the upper right corner from 15 yards out for his first goal of the season.
From there, neither squad could find the go-ahead marker, but Rutgers came close in the 76
th minute. It was Temple, who got in tight for a shot that James was able to grab the save just before the ball crossed the line.
James finished the match with six saves in his first start of the season for Fordham.
The Rams are back in conference play for their next match, which will be on Saturday, October 1
st, against Massachusetts for a 7:00 PM start.
