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BRONX, N.Y. – The Fordham men's soccer team will begin its 2023 campaign on Thursday night when it plays host to Sacred Heart for a 7 p.m. kick-off at Jack Coffey Field.
The contest, which will open the 66
th season of varsity men's soccer at Fordham, will air on both ESPN+ and MSG.
Prior to the match, the Fordham women's soccer team will play its second home contest of the year at 4 p.m. against Stonehill.
Fordham enters its fifth season under the direction of
Carlo Acquista, who led the Rams to an Atlantic 10 title during the 2020-21 campaign. Acquista boasts a record of 24-24-17 at the helm of the program, including a 13-7-9 (.603) mark in Atlantic 10 play.
The Rams return a number of key players from a team that went 3-4-9 a season ago, tying an NCAA record for draws in a season. Each of the team's top three point producers from 2022 will return to the Bronx, led by Preseason All-Conference selection
Timo Hummrich. In his debut season with Fordham last fall, Hummrich scored six goals and dished out three assists on his way to First Team All-Atlantic 10 honors. Rising sophomore
Nathan Simes was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team in 2022 after scoring five goals and assisting on two others. The Wellington, New Zealand, native was a two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week and recorded the game-winner in two of the Rams' three victories. Closing out that trio of leading scorers is
Florian Deletioglu, who begins his fourth season at Fordham after netting three goals and dishing out a team-high four assists last fall.
The 2023 Rams will boast one of the nation's most experienced rosters with 10 graduate students and five seniors among their ranks. Eight of those graduate students are first-year transfers from other institutions making use of their extra year of eligibility from the NCAA related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Those seven field players in that cohort have combined to make 323 Division I appearances, including 227 starts, while combining for 16 goals and 22 assists.
Carter Abbott, a goalkeeper from Wisconsin, turned in a 1.08 goals against average and a .722 save percentage while playing a part in 11 shutouts over three seasons with the Badgers.
Four of those eight grad transfers made their last stop within the Atlantic 10:
Louis Lehr (George Mason),
Shizu Yohena (UMass),
Harper Cook (Duquesne) and
Luis Puchol (La Salle).
Adrian Valentine, one of the Rams' three captains alongside Deletioglu and
Sebastian Fabrin, is the only member of the 10-man graduate class to have only played at Fordham.
Sacred Heart comes to Fordham after going 7-9-1 in 2022 with a 4-3-1 mark in league play. The Pioneers advanced to the semifinals of the NEC Tournament before falling to eventual-champion FDU. Of the eight Sacred Heart players who recorded at least one point last season, seven will be returning for the Pioneers in 2023.
The Pioneers, who finished fourth in last year's regular season NEC standings, were also picked to finish fourth in this summer's NEC preseason poll.
After opening the season at home, Fordham will hit the road for a Sunday showdown at Saint Francis. Kick-off from Loretto, Pa., is set for 1 p.m. That game will be available to stream on NEC Front Row.
