Fordham is heading to the Atlantic 10 Championship Final to be played Sunday in Davidson, North Carolina. Samuel Joseph/The Fordham Ram
By: Leighton Schneider
The Fordham women’s soccer team has advanced to the Atlantic 10 Championship for the third time in program history, following a 1-1 (4-2 Penalty Kicks) win over George Mason Friday night. They will play in the championship game on Sunday at noon against the winner of La Salle and Duquesne.
George Mason opened the scoring in the 37th minute of the first half on a goal by junior defender Sarah Hardison. Patriots sophomore midfielder Kaila Williams took a corner kick from the left side of the pitch and sent a ball into the middle of the box. Hardison was able to out jump the Fordham defenders and send the ball passed diving junior goalkeeper Megan Fitzgerald.
Graduate student midfielder Jessica Widmann scored in the 59th minute in the second half to tie the score at one. Widmann was able to get control of the ball after it bounced off junior forward Nicol Natale and the Rams leading scorer slotted it home from right in front of the penalty spot. It was Widmann’s 12th goal of the season
Widmann had a chance to extend the Rams lead in the 73rd minute after she was brought down in the box. She was awarded a penalty kick, but sailed the kick over the upper left corner of the goal.
The game went into two ten-minute, golden-goal, overtime periods. George Mason dominated the first ten minutes, but Fordham was able to control the second, even though they did not score.
In penalty kicks George Mason and Fordham each connected in the first set of kicks with Hardison and junior defender Ally Doyle scoring, respectively. Fitzgerald stopped the next two kicks for the Patriots, while junior defenders Nicole Bates and Brianna Blunck scored for the Rams to make it a 3-1 advantage. Patriots freshman midfielder Emily Littell made it 3-2, but Widmann finished it off with a goal to send the Rams to the championship.
Fitzgerald made four saves in net, while her counterpart Kirsten Glad made five.
The Rams advanced to the semi-finals by beating Virginia Commonwealth on Thursday by a score of 1-0. Freshman midfielder Brooke Salmon scored her first career goal and Natalie Sims got her second assist of the season. Fitzgerald made two saves in net for her ninth shutout of the year, which broke the single season record for a Fordham goalkeeper of eight, previously held by Shannon Misiaszek in 2001.
