BRONX, N.Y. – The Fordham men's soccer team will put its undefeated record on the line this weekend when it heads to Saint Louis for a Saturday night showdown with the reigning Atlantic 10 Champion Billikens.
Kick-off from Robert R. Hermann Stadium is set for 8:30 p.m. ET and will be streamed lived on ESPN+.
One of only 14 unbeaten Division I teams remaining nationwide through games played on Thursday, Fordham (4-0-3, 1-0-0 A-10) heads to the Midwest on the heels of back-to-back wins. The Rams opened Atlantic 10 play against St. Bonaventure last Saturday in convincing fashion, downing the Bonnies, 3-0, at Moglia Stadium. Three days later, Fordham retained intraborough bragging rights, defeating Manhattan, 2-0, on Tuesday in Riverdale.
Just a few hours before shutting out the Jaspers in their annual Battle of the Bronx, the Rams picked up six votes in Tuesday's latest edition of the United Soccer Coaches poll, good enough for the third team out of the Top 25 rankings. That was not the only national recognition that Fordham received on Tuesday, as
Florian Deletioglu earned an honorable mention spot on the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week after scoring twice against the Bonnies for his second career brace. The recognition marked the second straight week that a Ram found himself on the honorable mention list for TDS' Team of the Week, as
Timo Hummrich did so on Sept. 12.
Hummrich and Deletioglu are the Rams' two leading offensive producers heading into the weekend, with five and four goals, respectively, on the season. Hummrich's handful of goals, the latest of which came on Tuesday at Manhattan, ranks third in the league while Deletioglu is tied for fourth.
Daniel D'Ippolito, who scored the game-winner against the Jaspers, and
Kai Griese are currently tied for sixth in the league with three assists apiece. As a team, Fordham ranks second in the A-10 and 22
nd nationally with 2.14 goals per contest.
After posting his second consecutive clean sheet and his third overall this season,
Carter Abbott now ranks second in the league and 16
th nationally with a 0.57 goals against average. His .857 save percentage leads the A-10 and is tied for ninth in the Division I.
Saint Louis (2-3-1, 0-0-1 A-10) welcomes the Rams following its second win of the season, a 1-0 defeat of Oral Roberts on Tuesday night at Hermann Stadium. The Billikens, who checked in at no. 24 in the preseason United Soccer Coaches poll, are 2-0 at home on the year.
The Billikens have only found the back of the net four times in their opening six games with three of those goals coming from sophomore forward CJ Coppola. The Waukee, Iowa, native scored both of the team's goals in a 2-1 win over Butler to open the campaign before providing the game-winner on Tuesday night against ORU.
Junior Jeremi Abonnel and redshirt freshman Mason Hart have been alternating starts in goal this season for the Billikens. Both keepers sport a 1.00 goals against average with one clean sheet apiece. Hart, who registered the win on Tuesday night, owns an .824 save percentage while Abonnel has stopped 80.0 percent of the shots on goal he has faced this season.
Fordham will look to snap a three-game winless streak against the Billikens when the two teams square off on Saturday night. The Rams' last victory over Saint Louis came during the semifinals of the 2020-21 Atlantic 10 Championship when Fordham rallied from an early deficit to defeat the Billikens, 2-1, in Dayton. Two days later, the Rams claimed the Atlantic 10 title.
After taking on Saint Louis, the Rams will return home to host Davidson on Sept. 30 at 7 p.m.
