The Fordham men’s soccer team’s season ended this past week as they participated in the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals against Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), in a 0-1 loss. The Rams will not advance and lose out on a bid to the NCAA tournament for the third straight season.
Facing the A-10 regular season champions, the Rams had a tough battle ahead of them. After a scoreless first half, the Rams were just not able to put up shots against VCU.
VCU recorded two strong chances in the opening minutes of the match. Then, in the fifth minute, senior Florian Deletioglu picked off a pass in the box, but his close-distance try was turned aside by the visiting Rams’ John Ermini. Ermini saved another Fordham shot in the 11th minute, as sophomore Daniel D’Ippolito unloaded on a ball from just outside the box that the redshirt junior goalkeeper grabbed.
It wasn’t until the 74th minute that someone got on the board. VCU developed a shot taken by Damian Gallegos off of a perfect pass from Jonathan Kanagwa to sail a shot past graduate student goalkeeper Carter Abbott into the back of the cage.
Fordham had two opportunities to equalize the score late in the game. Deletioglu took a shot that seemed to hit off the outstretched arm of a VCU in the box. However, the referee chose to not make a call against the visiting Rams. Off the rebound, graduate student Liam Salmon sent another try that would have gone in, but it came right after the final whistle and was deemed no goal. The Rams would concede the match, 0-1.
Some Rams were able to get some shots off during the 90 minutes, with D’Ippolito taking three shots, a team-high.
Both graduate students Timo Hummrich and Shizu Yohena recorded two shots each, but to no avail.
In total, VCU outshot Fordham, 12-9, finishing with five shots on goal to Fordham’s four. The Rams ended their season with a 6-4-7 record and finished 3-3-2 in the A-10.
Unfortunately, another Rams season ends in a quick fashion as they have not seen the NCAA tournament since 2020-21. The team, made up of 17 seniors and graduate students will most likely see a large turnover, giving room to a slew of sophomores and freshmen teammates.
With next season ahead and a spring season, the Rams have plenty of ground to improve on while they chase for a chance to return to the NCAA tournament.
