It was a week of ups and downs for the Fordham University men’s soccer team. They started with a 1-0 loss to Princeton University before dismantling Loyola University Chicago 5-1 to clinch a spot in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
The Rams hosted the Princeton Tigers last Tuesday, Oct. 22, for their last non-conference match of the season. The Tigers scored their lone goal early, taking the lead in only the sixth minute thanks to a lovely right-footed finish by sophomore forward Kevin Kelley. Kelley found himself in a scoring position via an assist from sophomore midfielder Liam Beckwith. Fordham tried to fight back in the second half, outshooting Princeton 10-7, but the visitors remained stalwart, holding their 1-0 lead to the end of the match to give Fordham their fourth loss of their 2024 campaign.
The Rams quickly saw their mood improve after they put on a show for the home crowd on Saturday, Oct. 26, when they rumbled past the Loyola Chicago Ramblers. Junior Daniel D’Ippolito got on the board in the seventh minute, scoring his 10th goal of the season, the first time since 2002 that a Ram has scored double-digit goals in a single campaign. Fordham doubled their lead just over 10 minutes later when juniors Bennett Leitner and Andre Insalaco combined for Insalaco’s third goal of the year. Graduate student Lukas Hackaa made it 3-0 early in the second half, drilling a 30-yard free-kick that curled beautifully into the right side of the goal. Leitner scored his second goal of the night soon after, getting on the end of a cross from senior defender Jed Dixon to make it a 4-0 game. Fordham’s fifth and final goal of the night came in the 64th minute as juniors Jack Sias and Leitner set up Insalaco for his second goal of the match. Unfortunately for graduate student keeper Carter Abbott, his shutout was spoiled by an 85th-minute goal from junior forward Angel Mendez.
The 5-1 victory was the Rams’ first five-goal performance in a match in three years, last accomplished on Oct. 21, 2021, against the Davidson College Wildcats. In addition to their A-10 Tournament berth-clinching victory, head coach Carlo Acquista and the rest of the team honored the senior class, including Paulo Primavera, Jed Dixon, Owen Hardy and Murat Calkap.
Fordham will end their regular season campaign on Saturday, Nov. 2, at 7 p.m. Acquista’s men will travel to Pittsburgh to take on the No. 23 ranked Duquesne University Dukes.
