This Thursday, Fordham Men’s Soccer hosted Santa Clara University at Moglia Stadium. The Rams put on a show, taking down the Broncos in a decisive 4-0 victory. Junior captain Daniel D’Ippolito was the difference maker in this match, registering the first program hat trick since Eric Ohlendorf on Nov. 10, 2016. 

With his hat trick, D’Ippolito became only the 19th player in Fordham University history to register three goals in a match. D’Ippolito started his performance with a goal from the penalty spot thanks to a red card awarded to sophomore defender Itamer Efrat for a handball in the box. D’Ippolito stepped up to the penalty spot, burning the ball into the bottom left corner. It only took D’Ippolito 15 minutes to add to his goal tally, finishing an inswinging corner from graduate student defender Benji Jones, which careened past the outstretched arms of junior goalkeeper Jackson Ozburn. D’Ippolito got the ball rolling for Fordham’s third goal when he dispossessed Santa Clara in the midfield before a connection between graduate student midfielder Louis Lehr and junior forward Bennett Leitner saw Leitner shaking his defender and slotting the ball in the top corner. Leitner’s finish was the first in his Fordham career, finally getting on the board after missing the 2023 season due to injury. D’Ippolito got on the end of Leitner’s cross to finish his hat trick, putting a shot on target that Ozburn saved before D’Ippolito finished the rebound, giving the Rams a 4-0 lead in the 69th minute. 

This result is Fordham’s highest-scoring offensive night since their 5-0 victory against College of the Holy Cross on Sept. 14, 2019. With Fordham’s victory, they sealed their second shutout of the season and extended their home unbeaten streak to 10 games. The Rams move to 3-0-1 on the season ahead of their trip to Philadelphia, where they will take on 24th-ranked University of Pennsylvania. The Quakers are coming off of a 4-0 victory of their own, defeating inter-city rivals Temple at home on Friday night. UPenn has also succeeded against high-ranking opponents, defeating No. 3 University of Pittsburgh via a 1-0 scoreline in their season opener. In their last matchup, the Rams beat the Quakers 2-1 in their season-opener at Moglia Stadium the previous season — Monday’s matchup between the two in-form universities kicks off at 7 p.m.