By Tara Cangialosi
The Fordham men’s soccer team dropped its final regular season contest 1-0 against the University of Massachusetts in an overtime effort on Saturday, Nov. 7.
The loss caps both regular season and Atlantic 10 Conference play for the year and brings the Rams’ overall record to 6-7-4. The team also dropped to 4-3-1 in the A-10, but landed the four seed in the A-10 Conference Championship, which is set to begin on Thursday, Nov. 12, at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.
Fordham will take on the exact same rival in UMass, which earned the five seed in the tournament.
“We are super excited to play them again,” senior captain Ryan Cupolo said. “We feel we didn’t play our best soccer when we played them the first time, and just need to focus on making sure we are healthy and focused when we see them again.”
The Minutemen are a deceiving squad due to a 5-12-1 overall record. However, UMass boasts the exact same record as Fordham in the A-10 at 4-3-1, proving that they are a force to be reckoned with.
Though both teams had already qualified for the Championship before the match, the game’s results — along with other scores around the league — dictated seeding.
With its record before the game, Fordham could have been anywhere from a two to a seven seed depending on league results.
With players still out due to injury, the Rams started a similar lineup to the Halloween game against the University of Dayton. Notably, freshman goalkeeper Dan Miklos again got the start because classmate Rashid Nuhu is still coming back from a concussion.
Fordham and UMass put up a combined total of 15 first half shots, but were unable to convert on any opportunities and the score remained scoreless through the 45 minutes.
The Rams had their best chance to take the lead in the 60th minute.
Freshman Janos Loebe took a corner from the near side, crossing the ball into the center. Sophomore Matthew Lewis attempted a diving header for a goal, but the Minutemen’s keeper, Jorge Becerra, made the grab.
Fordham had five corner kicks in the second half, but did not convert. UMass outshot the Rams 7 to 2, but also did not register a goal in regulation.
The game went into overtime, and the Rams came out on the losing side of the spectrum.
The Minutemen got the game-winner in the 97th minute, when redshirt-freshman Casey Hamil got a hold of a loose ball in Fordham’s eighteen. He finished from eight yards out for his first goal of the season to win the game 1-0.
Miklos ended the game with three saves, while his counterpart Becerra had five.
With this game behind them, the Rams should anticipate another physical game with the Minutemen come Thursday.
The game saw three yellow cards — two for UMass on Mark Morris and Kevin Boino and one on Fordham’s Cupolo.
Considering Fordham’s track record in the A-10 Championship, the Rams need to let this loss roll off their backs especially because they play UMass again.
Fordham’s strong backline will have a second chance to quell the Minutemen’s attack, while the offense got a good look at goalkeeper Becerra. Both ends of the field will be more knowledgable on what to anticipate and how to best their counterparts.
According to the team, sophomore Jannik Loebe, junior Andy Hickey and Nuhu — all of whom sat out the last game — will be ready to play on Thursday.
Additionally, graduate student and defender Lars Zimmerman will practice on Wednesday at George Mason and will be assessed there to see if he can play.
Either way, the team will move forward with the best lineup that it can put together for its first match in the Championship.
Fordham and UMass kick off on Thursday at 2 p.m. The winner of the match will go on to face the winner of the game between one-seed George Washington and eight-seed VCU. That game will be played on Friday, Nov. 13, at 5 p.m.
