Men’s Soccer Wins Two Matches in Return to Rose Hill

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

The Fordham men’s soccer team made a victorious return to Jack Coffey Field this past weekend, registering a pair of 1-0 wins and moving up to a tie for No. 7 in the Atlantic 10 conference. The Rams managed to shut out both UMass and Rhode Island, getting goals from two freshmen to improve to 2-2-1 in conference play.

“I thought we came with a really good attitude this weekend,” head coach Jim McElderry said. “I thought our guys at the back played really well. They played 90 minutes in both games and really competed. They stuck together as a group. We don’t have a ton of All-Americans on our team. We need to play well together and be committed to defending, and I thought we did that this weekend.  I was really happy with their energy levels and commitment.”

The Rams began their weekend on Friday, Oct. 25 against the Minutemen of UMass. The Rams had not played on the Rose Hill campus since Sept. 29.

“It was nice to get back home,” McElderry said. “We’d been on the road for almost a month, had our first three conference games on the road. That’s tough. That’s why I’m very happy with the guys.”

The match with UMass began with a fairly pedestrian pace. Neither team was able to gain an advantage and put the ball deep into the attacking third. The Rams did register five first-half shots, but none of those shots challenged the UMass keeper.  Their closest chance came on a free kick that was headed just over the cross bar.

The second half changed the game for the Rams. Senior forward Mike Stalker made a pair of deep runs into the UMass box. On his first, he got tangled up with a Minutemen defender and was called for a foul. Undeterred, he streaked right back down the pitch just minutes later and this time managed to draw a foul call on UMass. This set up a free kick for freshman Andrew Hickey. Hickey’s shot curled just past the UMass keeper to give the Rams a 1-0 lead in the 54th minute of the match.

“We train at it all the time,” McElderry said. “I think it’s one of our big issues. When we play well and we earn corners, we don’t test the keeper. Even tonight, the keeper never had to make any saves. So everything we’ve been talking about is just getting shots on goal and hitting the target. I thought Andy did a great job; not hitting it as hard as he can, taking a little bit off of it and making sure it goes on the target. And all of a sudden it skids into the back corner.”

The Rams held on to that 1-0 lead for the rest of the match. They dominated possession of the ball in the second half and clearly frustrated UMass, even drawing a red card on UMass defender Nige Negm for a particularly hard foul. Senior goalkeeper Alex Naples made four saves to seal the shutout for the Rams.

“It’s not against every team that we can keep possession like that, but I thought tonight, we were gonna be better than them in the midfield,” McElderry said. “I thought that was a way we could frustrate them a little bit, not allow them to be on the ball. Coaches talk about starving the other team, and it’s tough for them to get much of an attack going.”

The second match of the Rams’ home stand came on Sunday against Rhode Island. This match took on a similar tone to the UMass one, as neither team managed much of anything in the first half. Of the 14 combined first half shots, only four were on goal.

“I thought we were just a little bit nervous,” McElderry said. “Both teams seemed content to play it a little safe. I reminded the guys at half that in order for us to have a chance to make the conference playoffs, you have to win your home games.  It’s not 100 percent, but that’s a pretty good recipe. So I said we have to get out and try to be aggressive, and I thought our guys were.”

Fordham definitely heeded the words of its head coach. The Rams pushed the ball deep into the Rhode Island box in the opening minutes of the second half. The ball was kicked around and saved by Rhode Island, but then tapped right into the back of the net by freshman Blake Bohlen. Bohlen’s first career goal gave Fordham a 1-0 lead less than three minutes into the second half.

“I don’t really know what happened on the goal, to be honest,” McElderry said. “It happened so fast; the shot, then the save, and it was poked out and then knocked back in; I really couldn’t see it. I’m really happy for Blake. He practiced really hard this week, and it was nice for him to get rewarded with a goal.”

After scoring the goal, the Fordham defense took control for the second straight match. It kept the ball away from Rhode Island and limited good looks at the net. Naples was able to close the door for the second straight match and pick up his fourth shutout of the season.

With the successful two-win weekend, Fordham improves to 5-8-1 on the season. The Rams moved their way up the A-10 standings and look to be making a playoff push. The team will next be in action on Nov. 3 against VCU.