BRONX, N.Y. – The Fordham men's soccer team will host its Atlantic 10 home opener on Saturday night when the UMass Minutemen travel to the Moglia Stadium.
Kick-off is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ with James Birle and Mike Smolens on the call.
Saturday will serve as the team's annual Youth Night, as Fordham Men's Soccer invites youth teams near and far to bring their players for a night of soccer under the lights at Moglia Stadium. Admission to Fordham men's soccer games is free for all fans. A postgame autograph session will be held for any youth teams and players in attendance.
Fordham (3-2-3, 0-0-1) will welcome the Minutemen on the heels of back-to-back draws. This past weekend, Fordham and St. Bonaventure played to a prolonged scoreless tie, as the teams completed 31 minutes of action on Saturday night before severe weather pushed the remainder of the contest to Sunday morning. The decision marked goalkeeper Carter Abbott's second solo shutout of the season.
Earlier that week, Fordham erased an early two-goal deficit to secure a 2-2 draw against Manhattan in the Battle of the Bronx. The Jaspers scored in the 13th and 36th minutes before Jed Dixon struck in the 51st and Luke Pompliano equalized in the 65th. Louis Lehr, Andre Insalaco and Daniel D'Ippolito added assists for the Rams in the draw, which extended Fordham's home unbeaten streak to 11 matches (7-0-4) dating back to the start of the 2023 campaign.
D'Ippolito enters the match ranked second in the Atlantic 10 in both goals (5) and points (12). Three weeks ago in a 4-0 win over Santa Clara, D'Ippolito became the 19th player in program history and the first since Eric Ohlendorf in 2016 to record a hat trick. Through games played on Wednesday, D'Ippolito's five goals tie him for 25th in the nation in the category.
The nation's leading goal scorer will be on the field at Moglia Stadium Saturday, as UMass' Alec Hughes has netted an NCAA-best 10 goals in eight games this season, more than half of the Minutemen's 19 total goals.
UMass enters the contest with a record of 4-2-2 after dropping its A-10 opener at home last Saturday, 2-1, to George Mason. The Minutemen came out on the wrong end of the result despite outshooting the Patriots, 14-8, including a 6-2 edge in shots on goal.
Through games played on Wednesday, UMass sits at no. 21 in the NCAA RPI rankings while Fordham checks in at no. 56. Two other Atlantic 10 teams, VCU (12) and George Mason (17) are ahead of the Minutemen.
Fordham and UMass will meet for the 30th time since 1980, a series that favors the Minutemen, 16-10-3. Each of the last three matches between the two teams has ended in a draw, including a 1-1 tie last season in Amherst. Fordham is 2-0-3 all-time against UMass under Head Coach Carlo Acquista.
