By Tara Cangialiosi

Over the past two weeks, the Fordham men’s soccer team battled four Atlantic 10 conference rivals, and were victorious in two games.
The combined wins against La Salle University and Saint Joseph’s University, along with the tie to Virginia Commonwealth University and loss to George Mason University bring the team’s overall record to 5-7-2, and 2-2-1 in A-10 play.
On Oct. 10, Fordham traveled to Philadelphia to take on La Salle. In a game in which head coach Jim McElderry started the team’s two sets of brothers, Andres and Tomas Penfold and Mike and Greg McNamara, the Rams came out on top 3-1, with the junior-senior foursome combining for two of the goals and an assist.
“It was a great experience to say the least,” Mike McNamara said. “I was really happy for Greg; he worked really hard and earned this opportunity.”
After the Explorers scored within the first minute of the contest to take a 1-0 lead, Fordham responded in the fifth minute on a play from the two older brothers McNamara and Penfold. Following a cross from Andres Penfold, senior forward Mike McNamara registered his first career goal to tie the game at one.
In the 52nd minute, Kyle Bitterman made a run down the sideline, centering the ball across the field. Andres Penfold was there and ready, quickly trapping the ball and beating La Salle’s goalkeeper with a shot to the left corner to give the Rams a 2-1 lead.
In the 81st minute, Fordham got an insurance goal when freshman Christopher Bazzini knocked in his first collegiate goal off of Aleksander Mastilovic’s corner kick.
“Ultimately, nothing was better than getting the win at the end of the game,” Mike McNamara said. “It was great to get the win against Lasalle because we had positive energy going into the next game.”
Two days later, the Rams looked to make a clean sweep of their Philadelphia opponents this fall as they came home to Jack Coffey field on Oct. 12 to take on Saint Joseph’s University.
In a highly-anticipated contest against a quality team, the Rams earned the sweep with a 2-0 victory over the Hawks.
After a scoreless first half where each side only took five shots, it was imperative for the Rams to come out with a visible sense of urgency and offensive push toward the goal.
They did just that, netting two goals within the first twenty minutes of the second half.
Sophomore Ole Sandnes jumped at the loose ball opportunity, tapping in his first career goal as a Ram and putting the team ahead 1-0.
“It felt great to help the team against St. Joe’s,” Mastilovic said. “I think we have done a great job the last two games, and I was happy we could show our potential.”
In a match that saw 22 shots in the second half, the Rams were energized and walked away with a 2-0 victory in front of their home crowd.
A week later, the Rams made a southern road trip to take on fellow A-10 rivals VCU and George Mason.
After playing two games in three days, Fordham returned to the Bronx Sunday night with a tie and subsequent loss.
In their first game against VCU on Oct. 17, a battle of the Rams ensued at Sports Backer Stadium in Richmond, Virginia. The game resulted in a 0-0 tie following two overtime periods.
There were 35 shots total from both teams in the double overtime match, but only six made it on net. Additionally, VCU had 12 corner kicks and Fordham had seven, but none were converted.
“Offensively, although it may not show it through the stats, I felt like we created a number of good scoring chances,” Brailey said. “We were just unlucky [in] connecting either on the final pass or a shot was blocked.”
To finish out their Virginia road trip, the Rams made the drive to Fairfax to take on the George Mason Patriots, where they ultimately fell 1-0.
Unfortunately for the Rams, the only goal of the game came in the second minute of the first half, when a George Mason player was fouled inside the box.
The ref awarded the Patriots a penalty kick, which Timi Mulgrew easily converted for his tenth goal of the season, giving George Mason the early 1-0 lead.
George Mason got the win, improving their overall season record to 9-3-3. Mike Butts made four saves and Brailey had two for Fordham.
The Fordham men’s soccer team will next be in action on Sunday, Oct. 26, when the Rams host the University of Massachusetts at noon at Jack Coffey Field.