BRONX, N.Y. – The Fordham men's soccer team will officially begin its 2024 season on Thursday night when it visits No. 17 Hofstra for a meeting with the nationally ranked Pride.
Kick-off from Hofstra Soccer Stadium is set for 7 p.m. on FloFC.
Fordham, under the direction of sixth-year head coach Carlo Acquista, begins its 2024 campaign after being picked to finish fifth in Wednesday's release of the Atlantic 10 Preseason Coaches' Poll. It marks the eighth time in the last nine years that the Rams have been chosen in the top five of the conference's preseason prognostication.
Last season, Fordham began the campaign with a record of 6-1-3, cracking the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 and climbing as high as no. 10 in the RPI in early October. The Rams went on to earn a berth in the Atlantic 10 Men's Soccer Championship, where they fell to regular season champion and 2024 preseason favorite VCU, 1-0.
The Rams return just three of their top 10 point producers from that 2023 squad, headlined by junior Daniel D'Ippolito. The Baldwin Place, N.Y., native earned Second Team All-Atlantic 10 and CSC Academic All-District honors last season after ranking third on the team with four goals and tying for second on the squad with three assists. D'Ippolito will be joined in the offensive attack by Louis Lehr and Andre Insalaco, the Rams' other two returning goal scorers from 2023, and Bennett Leitner, who missed all of 2023 with an injury. Murat Calkap will also return in 2024 after capping in 12 games a season ago.
On the other side of the pitch, the Rams return both of their goalkeepers who saw action last season in Carter Abbott and Alex Dolce. In his first season with the Rams after graduating from Wisconsin, Abbott went 5-4-7 with a 0.98 goals against average and a .758 save percentage, good enough for third in the A-10 in each of those last two categories.
The Rams also return a backline stalwart in senior Jed Dixon, who led all field players with 1,495 minutes played last season.
In addition to these returners, the Rams also welcome a number of key additions at several different positions. In the defensive third, Fordham has added a slew of experienced transfers including Benji Jones (Adelphi), Thomas Gray (Loyola Maryland), Jack Sias (Campbell) and goalkeeper Ryan Foley (St. John's). Offensively, the Rams are looking for production from Lukas Hackaa, the reigning Horizon League Offensive Player of the Year from IUPUI, Ede Gramberg, who scored six goals last season at Omaha, Luke Pompliano, who played three seasons at Villanova, and Luca Bernoth, a transfer from Florida Southern. The Rams have also added seven talented freshmen in Cosimo Tristani, Emile Kisse, Ryan Mattison, Constantine Tikhanovski, Daniel Lang, Luca Giannola and Fabio Sebastian Sanchez.
Fordham and Hofstra will meet for the third straight season and the fourth time since 2019. Last October, the Rams played the No. 18 Pride to a 1-1 draw at Moglia Stadium, as Lehr scored early for the Rams before Hofstra equalized in the 56th minute on an Eliot Goldthorp penalty kick. Abbott matched a season high with six saves for the Rams in that nationally ranked result.
The Pride, which has won three straight CAA titles, was picked to repeat in a preseason poll of the league's coaches. Hofstra earned the no. 14 national seed in last year's NCAA Tournament, earning an opening-round bye and advancing to the round of 16 for the second time in three years.
The Pride lost three of its top four point producers from 2023, including Ryan Carmichael (17 goals, 5 assists) and Goldthorp (8 goals, 15 assists). Fifth-year defender Pierce Infuso, a Third-Team All-American last season, was tabbed as the CAA Preseason Player of the Year.
After opening the season in Hempstead, the Rams will return to action on Wednesday, Aug. 28, with a trip to Sacred Heart. Fordham will make its Moglia Stadium debut on Sunday, Sept. 1, against Colgate at 1 p.m.
