STAFF WRITER

David Myers/The Ram Fordham has a chance to build on the Iona win with games against Dartmouth and Vermont this weekend.

Fordham women’s soccer head coach Ness Selmani entered his 18th season at the helm in August, coming off a year in which his Rams had their hopes for a playoff bid ended by Saint Joseph’s last October. Selmani’s record has been as consistent as his tenure at Fordham, earning berths in the conference championships in five of the last 10 seasons.

Junior goalkeeper Ally White, who has played 245 minutes in four games this season, and senior defender Casey Nowakowski, who has played 478 minutes in five games, form a good core group of experienced players.

Fordham is also loaded with young talent. Ally Doyle, a freshman defender out of Fairfield Ludlowe High School, has started four games and has presence on both offense and defense, registering six shots in 388 minutes. Bryce Debolt, Turner Block and Nicole Bates also show a lot of promise.

The Rams started the season 0-3, losing to Manhattan, St. John’s and Rutgers. The lone goal over that three game stretch came from junior forward Kristina Maksuti against Manhattan, a score that forced the game into overtime. Fordham would lose the last two by a combined score of 0-8. They would bounce back against Army, tying the game off of a Kelsey Dougherty Howard score in the 24th minute. Freshman Megan Fitzgerald started the game in net and was replaced in the second half by Ally White, who totaled 10 saves in the contest, and the match ended as a 1-1 draw.

Fordham would continue their turn around against Iona, getting its first win of the season thanks to a goal in the 26th minute by Jessica Widmann, a junior who missed all of 2012 with an injury. The defense gave up six shots, none of which were on goal.

When asked about the youth on the back line before the Iona game, Selmani said, “I think our freshmen are doing a fantastic job and they are not playing like true freshmen…by the time the conference games begin, they will be playing like seniors.”

The six shots they gave up on Sunday certainly backs up that statement.

“We need to be much more aggressive about getting the ball in to the 18 yard box with the midfielders supporting closer to the forwards,” Selmani said in regards to the offense.

The Rams have scored two goals in two games after scoring only one in three, but a greater offensive output would certainly be a nice supplement to a defense that is starting to play well.

Fordham will start a three game road trip against Dartmouth this Friday, as they look to improve to 2-3-1.

Categories: Soccer, Sports

Tags: JAKE GROGAN