BRONX, N.Y. – With more than half of the Atlantic 10 season now in the rearview mirror, the Fordham men's soccer team will travel to the University of Massachusetts on Saturday for a 1 p.m. showdown with the Minutemen.
The contest will air live on ESPN+.
Fordham (6-2-4, 3-2-0 A-10) and UMass (6-4-3, 3-2-0 A-10) enter Saturday's match tied for third in the conference standings with just three league matches remaining. The top eight teams in the final ledger qualify for the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Championship with the top four seeds hosting quarterfinal matches on Nov. 3-4.
The Rams head to Amherst on the heels of a stellar decision on Tuesday night, playing 18
th ranked Hofstra to a 1-1 draw in the Bronx. Fordham kicked off the scoring in just the sixth minute, as
Louis Lehr netted his first goal as a Ram.
Nathan Simes and
Shizu Yohena tallied assists on the play. Hofstra equalized on a penalty kick in the 56
th minute before the teams remained level the rest of the way.
Lehr became the eighth different Fordham player, and the fourth Ram from Germany, to find the back of the net this season. Fellow Germans
Timo Hummrich and
Florian Deletioglu lead the team and are tied for third in the conference with six goals apiece. Hailing from Regensdorf, Germany,
Kai Griese ranks fourth on the team with two goals and three assists for seven points.
Goalkeeper
Carter Abbott matched a season-high with six saves in the Hofstra draw. The graduate student from Wisconsin ranks in the top four of the A-10 in both goals against average (0.88) and save percentage (.775).
The tie with Hofstra propelled Fordham six spots in the RPI, shooting the Rams up to no. 15 in the nation in the NCAA rankings.
UMass is set to welcome the Rams following three straight league wins. The streak began with a 3-0 blanking of GW on Sept. 30 before the Minutemen blasted St. Bonaventure, 5-2, on Oct. 4 in Olean. UMass won its second consecutive road match on Saturday evening, defeating Saint Joe's, 2-1, in Philadelphia. Both of UMass' A-10 losses were 1-0 decisions to start league play against Duquesne and VCU.
Senior forward Alec Hughes leads the Atlantic 10 and ranks third in the country with 11 goals this season for the Minutemen. The Glastonbury, Conn., native and reigning A-10 Co-Offensive Player of the Year has three multi-goal games this season, including a brace in last Wednesday's win over St. Bonvaenture. He has recorded at least one point in nine of the Minutemen's 13 matches this season. UMass also boasts the A-10's leader in assists, as senior midfielder Nick Zielonka has logged seven helpers to go along with three goals in 2023.
Defensively, UMass is allowing just over one goal per game (1.15). Senior Matt Zambetti has started all but one game in goal for the Minutemen, recording three shutouts and posting a .725 save percentage.
Fordham is 10-16-2 all-time against UMass dating back to the start of the Rams' Atlantic 10 tenure in the fall of 1995. The two teams have played to a draw in each of their last two meetings.
After taking on UMass, the Rams will have a week off before hosting Duquesne in a critical A-10 match on Oct. 21. Kick-off from Moglia Stadium is set for 7 p.m.
