By Alvin Halimwidjaya

Fordham Men’s Soccer’s regular season came to a close this past week, as the Rams split the last two games of their 2017 campaign, losing 2-1 to St. Louis on Oct. 28 and beating #25 ranked Massachusetts 3-2 on Nov. 1. Sophomore midfielder Bart Dziedzic scored his first goal of the season in the former game, while junior forward Janos Loebe, sophomore defender Joergen Oland and senior defender Christopher Bazzini scored in the latter matchup against Massachusetts. Junior goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu also had a season-high eight saves against UMass.

“Winning against a ranked team gave us confidence going into the quarter finals against Dayton,” Nuhu said. “We were kind of bummed after we lost against St. Louis, so going to UMass and beating them at their home was huge for us confidence wise.”

“It was a great [win] and really important as we wanted to go into the playoffs with a positive feeling,” senior forward Jannik Loebe added.

Fordham ended the regular season with a record of 11-4-2, going 5-2-1 in conference play. On Saturday, Nov. 4, the fifth-seeded Rams traveled to Baujan Field in Ohio for a first-round matchup against fourth-seeded Dayton in the A-10 Championships, coming out victorious 3-2.

“Our match up against Dayton is win or go home, and we aren’t ready to go home yet,” Nuhu said. “We still want to keep going and not make this game the last one for the seniors. So we are going to Dayton all in and hopefully we come out with a victory.”

Fordham struck first, scoring in the 35th minute as a rapid set of exchanges up the right side of the field between freshman forward Connor DeFillips and Dziedzic led to the second goal of the 2017 campaign for Dziedzic.

Dayton equalized in the 65th minute, as Thor Helgason slid the ball past Nuhu, but Fordham took the lead back in the 75th minute. A cleared corner kick fell to senior defender Vincenzo Zuccala just past midfield, and he sent a pass to senior defender Matthew Lewis, who got the ball to Oland for his fourth goal of the year and the lead.

The Flyers’ James Haupt tied the game up again in the 78th minute, but Jannik Loebe came through for his team in the final minutes with a game-winner in the 83rd minute. Janos Loebe sent a cross from the left side into the box for Jannik Loebe to bury in the back of the net for his sixth goal of the season. Jannik’s goal was the second game-winner of the season and the ninth of his career.

With this win, Fordham advances to the A-10 semifinals, where they find themselves in almost an instant rematch against first-seeded UMass. However, the Rams are determined to overcome any hurdle to defend their conference title.

“We want to repeat what we did last year,” Nuhu said. “We want to win it all again. We know that won’t happen without hard work and effort, so we’re working hard to get ourselves ready for the games.”

“I think the entire team is still hungry,” Jannik Loebe added. “All the new guys want to get their first ring and all the older guys want to finish their careers with the highest possible success.”

The Rams return to Baujan Field to face UMass on Friday, Nov. 10 at 4:30 p.m.