BRONX, N.Y. – Hosting a Davidson team that entered the weekend atop the Atlantic 10 standings, the Fordham men's soccer squad set the tone early and never looked back in a decisive 2-1 victory over the Wildcats on Saturday night at Moglia Stadium.
With the win, Fordham moved to 5-1-3 on the year, including a 4-0-1 mark at home, and improved its A-10 record to 2-1-0. Davidson (6-2-1, 2-1-0 A-10) came out on the losing end of a decision just the second time this season. It also marked only the second time that the Wildcats, who had conceded only four goals in eight games entering the weekend, surrendered multiple goals in the same game.
Florian Deletioglu and
Kai Griese recorded goals for the Rams against the Wildcats. Deletioglu is now tied with
Timo Hummrich for the team lead in that category with five and has logged at least one point in three of his last four games. Griese, who paces the team and ranks among the top 10 in the conference with three assists, found the back of the net for the second time this season.
Liam Salmon,
Jed Dixon and
Nathan Simes recorded assists for Fordham, which moved into a tie for third place in the A-10 standings approaching the midway mark of conference play.
Carter Abbott registered his fourth win of the year in goal for the Rams. The graduate student from Wisconsin boasts a 0.83 goals against average and an .800 save percentage on the season.
Fordham came out of the gate firing, recording its first legitimate scoring chances of the game in only the second minute, as Deletioglu had a shot blocked in front before
Shizu Yohena narrowly missed the upper 90 on the rebound.
The Rams continued to press the pace before breaking through in the 13
th minute. Controlling the ball near the left sideline, Dixon sent a cross into the box toward Salmon near the penalty spot. The graduate student flicked it down with his head toward the far side for Deletioglu, who booted into the back of the net for the early advantage.
Despite the lead remaining at one, the rest of the half was all-Fordham. At the intermission, the Rams held a 12-1 edge in shots and had earned five corner kicks to Davidson's zero.
Fordham tacked onto its lead in the 58
th minute thanks to some brilliant two-man work from Griese and Simes. After absorbing significant contact on an
Adrian Valentine throw-in on the right sideline, Simes directed the ball toward Griese on his left. Griese then played the ball back out right toward Simes, who immediately sent it back to Griese with space in the middle. With a head of steam, Griese unloaded with his left foot from the top of the 18, sending a blast into the bottom-right corner of the cage past the outstretched reach of Lou Liedtka.
Davidson wasted no time getting back in the game, cutting the Fordham lead in half just over four minutes later with a goal from Vincent Bennage, his fifth of the season.
The Wildcats appeared to be picking up momentum before Alonzo Clarke was sent off with his second yellow card of the match in the 78
th minute, allowing Fordham to finish strong for its second A-10 victory of the campaign.
The Rams will return to conference action on Wednesday when they play host to Saint Joseph's. Kick-off from Moglia Stadium at Jack Coffey Field is set for 7 p.m.
