After starting the year off 3-3-2, the Fordham Rams men’s soccer team headed to Washington D.C this past Saturday to face the George Washington Colonials in their first conference game of the year.
“I do not think our mindset has changed, but we have been building for the start of the conference games,” said head coach James McElderry. “We are hoping to be at our best at this point in the season. We can still improve in a lot of areas, but we have made great progress from our first weekend of games.”
The first scoring opportunity of the match came in the eighth minute off a set piece from the Rams. Junior Cole Stevenson took a corner kick that found freshman Connor DeFilippis for a header that was stopped by Colonials goalkeeper Thor Arne Hofs. The best opportunity of the day for Fordham did not come until the 86th minute, and it was DeFilippis again as he ran toward the goal forcing George Washington’s goal keeper to come out and challenge. This led to a forced shot by DeFilippis that soared over the crossbar.
The teams headed into overtime scoreless, and both failed to muster up much offense in both the overtime periods, leaving the game in a scoreless tie.
“We would have liked to have won the game but earning points on the road is important, so we will move on to Dayton now,” said McElderry. “These few days leading up to Dayton we are looking to continue to get sharper on both sides of the ball. Dayton are always a very good team, especially at home.”
McElderry underscored the importance of preparation, saying, “We will need to be at our best to get something out of the game. But I expect our team to be ready. It is a tough start to our conference schedule, playing the defending regular season champions GW and then the conference tournament champions in Dayton.
“I was very happy with how we played against GW,” continued McElderry. “We competed for the entire match and earned some quality scoring chances, while keeping some of GW’s very good players in check.”
After the tie against the Colonials, they fall to 3-3-3 on the year, and the Rams travel to Dayton, Ohio to face the Flyers this Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Rams will be working uphill to try and get their season back on track, and it starts in Ohio.
