Bronx, N.Y. - (August 14, 2025) - The game time for the Fordham women's soccer home match on Friday, August 15th against Marist at Moglia Stadium has been changed from a 7:00 PM match to a
5:00 PM start.
The Rams open their 33rd season of varsity play on Friday, coming off a 10-5-4 season and qualifying for the Atlantic 10 Championship. Led by 2024 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year
Magnus Nilerud, Fordham was picked third in the Atlantic 10 preseason coaches poll with junior
Lena Johnsen and sophomore
Liina Tervo earning spots on the preseason All-Conference Team. Tervo also found her way into
TopDrawerSoccer's preseason top 100 players in the country at #100.
SERIES HISTORY: Fordham faces off with the Marist Red Foxes for the first time since 2021. The Rams are 3-2 all-time against Marist with the first meeting back in 2003.
SEASON OPENERS: In season opening matches, Fordham has had a mixed bag of results, posting an 12-17-3 mark. The Rams defeated Manhattan by a score of 2-1 last season behind first half goals by
Julia Acosta and
Lena Johnsen and three saves by
Addison Green.
2025 TEAM CAPTAINS: the Fordham women's soccer team has selected seniors
Ella Guth and
Kyla King as the team captains for the upcoming year.
Guth served as a team captain last season, as the Rams returned to the Atlantic 10 playoffs for the first time since 2019. In 2024, she started all 18 games she appeared in, playing 1,544 minutes, which was second on the team, and added a pair of assists. She has been a staple on the Rams' starting backline over her first three seasons, starting 45 of 47 games and helping Fordham record 11 shutouts in that time. Additionally, Guth earned CSC Academic All-District honors twice and is a three-time Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll honoree. .
King took over as the starting goalkeeper at the end of the 2024 season, making 33 saves in eight matches. She has started 22 of the 24 matches she has appeared in over her three seasons, posting a 1.60 goals against average, 83 saves, seven victories, and six shutouts. King is also a three-year member of the Atlantic 10 Commissioner's Honor Roll.
PRESEASON POLL (8/13): The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its preseason coaches' poll for the upcoming women's soccer season with the Fordham Rams picked to finish third.
Saint Louis, the four-time defending champion, was picked to once again finish at the top of the standings with 11 first place votes, followed by Dayton in second, who received two first place votes. After making the Atlantic 10 Championship for the first time since 2019 last season, Fordham was picked third in the preseason poll, which is the highest the Rams have been picked in the preseason predictions since 2010.
In addition to the preseason poll, the coaches also voted on the preseason All-Conference team, featuring 11 players. Among those 11 are Fordham's
Liina Tervo and
Lena Johnsen, giving the Rams two preseason All-Conference selections for the first time since 2016.
Tervo, the 2024 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection, had an outstanding first season with the Rams and was ranked in the top 25 freshmen in the country by
TopDrawerSoccer. She led the team with 10 goals, eight assists, and 28 points, setting freshman school records in all three categories. Her eight assists also tied the overall single season record. Tervo also ended up tied for the conference lead in points at the end of the regular season, while being second in the league in goals and assists.
Johnsen had an excellent sophomore campaign after being an Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team selection as a freshman. In 2024, she started all 19 games in the midfield and was the team leader in minutes played (1,639). She notched two goals and two assists with both goals being game-winning markers.
FOREIGN ASSETS: Across all of college soccer, the international flavor continues to make its mark, and having an international coaching staff is also becoming a trend with Fordham at the forefront. Three of the Rams' coaches,
Magnus Nilerud (Sweden),
Jonathan Macadam (Scotland), and
David Flower (UK) all got their start overseas. That influence has enabled the Rams to recruit players not just from the United States from across the globe, including Canada (
Addison Green), the Domincan Republic (
Renata Mercedes), Finland (
Liina Tervo), Denmark (
Cecilie Mossing), and England (
Salma Simonin,
Sarah Quinn,
Scarlett Cofie).
SUPER SOPHS: After earning a spot on the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team and ranking among the top 100 freshmen in the country by
TopDrawerSoccer last fall, sophomores
Liina Tervo and
Julia Acosta are ready for year two with the Rams. Tervo, the 2024 Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year and First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection, and Acosta, a Second Team All-Atlantic 10 pick, combined for 19 goals and 11 assists in 19 games.
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams hit the road for their longest road trip of the season to Colorado for matches at Colorado on August 21
st and Northern Colorado on August 23
rd.
