After its tough road trip to Virginia last weekend, the Fordham men’s soccer team hoped to bounce back with a win at home against the University of Massachusetts on Sunday, Oct. 26.
However, the team’s efforts were stunted as the Minutemen, an Atlantic 10 conference rival, scored two early goals and held on to defeat the Rams 2-0 on Jack Coffey Field.
With the loss, the Rams fall to 5-8-2 on the season, and 2-3-1 in A-10 play.
UMass did not waste any time scoring, creating its first goal in the sixth minute. Josh Schwartz dribbled the ball down the sideline, beating Fordham’s outside defender.
He then centered the ball, and Mark Morris finished it from 10 yards out to score his third goal of the season.
Later in the half, the Minutemen extended their lead on a goal from Matt Mooney. After the Rams failed to clear a corner kick properly, UMass’ Will Ellis headed the ball toward the top of the box. On a one-timer, Mooney rocketed the ball to the upper left side of the goal. The shot connected with the inner post, sending it past a leaping Sean Brailey to give UMass the 2-0 lead.
Down by two goals in the first half, the Rams’ offense deflated. They could not generate any meaningful scoring opportunities for the remainder of the first 45 minutes.
“I think it is very important that we as a group focus on getting shots on target and scoring goals,” Ole Sandnes, a sophomore, said. “We created some good goal-scoring chances, but we were not successful [in] putting the ball in the net.”
The same story evolved in the second half, due to the Rams’ lack of offense. Their defense held UMass to two goals, but at a price.
In the 74th minute, Brailey jumped forward to snatch a ball out of the air before a UMass player could get a hold of it. However, the Minutemen’s Matt Keys also jumped vertically, misreading Brailey’s movement.
The two players collided and Brailey hit the ground hard. He ended the day with three saves, and was taken off the field to be checked out.
Keys was received a red card on the play, and will be suspended for the Minutemen’s next game against UNC Asheville.
Head Coach Jim McElderry called on freshman Jordan Black, one of the Rams’ back-up keepers, to finish out the match. He held UMass to two goals, earning his first two collegiate saves in the process.
After Brailey’s injury, the Rams desperately tried to come back from the early deficit. Despite racking up 22 shots, seven of them being on net, they could not figure out the Minutemen’s keeper, Taylor Cult.
Cult posted seven saves in the shutout, including a leaping punch of Andres Penfold’s attempt at a goal late in the game.
“To be honest, I feel that we produced enough chances to score some goals,” Sandnes said. “I think we failed to be effective in the last third of the game, and this obviously makes it harder for us to win games.”
UMass entered the game with a 1-12-1 record, good for last place in the conference. But instead of hanging back on their heels, the Minutemen brought their A-game to the Bronx.
As it stands, Fordham is right in the middle of the pack within the A-10 Conference. Rhode Island currently leads the standings at 6-0, undefeated against its conference counterparts.
In their remaining two regular season games, the Rams will likely need two victories to earn a decent seed for the impending A-10 Championships, held from Nov. 13-16 at Sports Backers Stadium in Richmond, Virginia.
The Rams will travel to Ohio next weekend to take on the Dayton Flyers, who currently hold a 2-1-2 A-10 record. They are slated two spots higher than the Rams in the standings.
Though the Flyers are a tough opponent, which has played several challenging out-of-conference teams this season, the Rams must look to maintain possession and win 50-50 balls in order to overpower the Flyers from the backfield. If the Rams can work the ball through the center and then through the midfield, their opportunities are rich up top.
Penfold and Aleksander Mastilovic, along with Jannik Loebe on the outside, are all very capable scorers who, when set up, can finish the ball.
If the Rams can create an insufferable amount of opportunities, they can rattle and frustrate Dayton as well as Duquesne, their final A-10 rival, who will visit the Bronx on Nov. 7.
If Fordham follows these chances with well-executed shots, the ball will find the back of the net and games will more than likely fall in their favor.
“I think we have to play better in the final third” Loebe said. “Most of the time, we missed the final pass and our shots didn’t get on target.”
A final key to Fordham’s success will be the healthy return of Brailey. The senior has put together a stellar final season, earning several shutouts and registering over 40 saves.
Brailey will see a doctor this week following the injury. Whether he will play the remainder of the season will depend on his condition later in the week.
The Rams hope that the time between games will be enough for Brailey to recover and return for the remainder of the season, and if anything, the A-10 Championships.
“We need to take one game at a time, and focus on getting results out of those games,” Sandnes said. “The only thing we can do now is to put in 110 percent every day in practice (as we have been), and get better in front of goal. I am confident that we can do this, as the group has a lot of potential. Now it is about getting it out against Dayton and Duquesne.”
The Fordham men’s soccer team will next be in action on Sunday, Nov. 2, when the team travels to Dayton for a 2:30 p.m. game.
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Tara Cangialosi is the Web Editor for The Fordham Ram.
