On Oct. 9, the Fordham University men’s soccer team hosted the Saint Louis University Billikens at Moglia Stadium. The Rams went down a goal early after senior forward Matthew Wrobel put a header into the back of the net. Ten minutes later, it was a senior connection when Nate Ward pulled off a backheel pass to Seth Anderson, who tucked away the finish for his first goal of the season. After taking a 2-0 deficit into the half, the Rams came out firing in the second half. Junior Andre Insalaco scored a lovely strike from 20 yards out to bring the game within one, assisted by junior Daniel D’Ippolito. Fordham continued their effort throughout the rest of the match, but they found themselves still down a goal in the 89th minute. But sometimes, all you need is luck. A cross from freshman Emile Kisse struck the hand of a Billikens defender, granting Fordham a penalty kick, which D’Ippolito buried into the bottom left corner. The 2-2 effort is indicative of Fordham’s determination this season. The result allowed the Rams to bring momentum on the road to Dayton.
Fordham traveled to Ohio to take on the University of Dayton Flyers last Saturday. They earned a 4-2 victory behind an impressive performance from D’Ippolito. Junior forward Ede Gramberg started the scoring early for the Rams, finishing a near-post cross from D’Ippolito to make it 1-0 in the fourth minute. Graduate student Thomas Gray doubled the Rams’ lead in the 37th minute, finishing off a corner from senior Murat Calkap. With a flipped script from earlier in the week, it was the Rams’ turn to give up a two-goal lead. A goal in the 47th minute from Dayton senior midfielder Joseph Melto Quiah and a follow-up in the 64th minute from Geni Kanyane saw the score level at 2-2 heading into the last ten minutes of action. D’Ippolito got his second assist of the night in the 80th minute, finding junior forward Bennett Leitner for a goal. D’Ippolito sealed the game with his own goal in the 83rd minute, beating two defenders on the breakaway for his eighth goal of the year to make the final scoreline 4-2.
The junior’s impressive week earned him A-10 Player of the Week and NCAA Player of the Week. D’Ippolito’s 22 points on the season are good enough for 10th in the country. When TopDrawerSoccer released their list of the top 100 players in the country, D’Ippolito was listed at 49th. D’Ippolito will look to continue his run of form as the Rams prepare for the upcoming Atlantic 10 tournament.
