Fordham Men’s Soccer opened up Atlantic 10 play this past weekend against the University of Rhode Island (URI), recording a 2-2 draw for their third straight tie and fourth of the season so far. In the matchup nicknamed “The Battle of the Rams,” the game proved to be a marathon for Fordham as they were not able to put the contest to bed despite scoring two terrific goals.

Fordham seemed to have had the game locked down early as they scored twice within the first five minutes.

The first goal came off a pass from graduate student Jakob Gesien to junior Florian Deletioglu, who rocketed the ball into the upper left corner of the net in only the third minute of the game. The two had a strong back-and-forth passing game, as Deletioglu headed the ball to Gesien from the defensive end to get the play started.

Just over a minute later, Fordham scored yet again, this one coming from freshman Nathan Simes. Simes, who is having a fantastic rookie season, netted his fifth goal of the year against URI. The play started off a corner, as graduate student Ben Shepherd delivered the ball to the head of graduate student Timo Hummrich. His header was saved by Rhode Island keeper Kax Hinke, but senior Conrado Duhour was right there to send it to Simes for an electric bicycle-kick finish.

Fordham seemed to have the game in the bag after these two goals. However, URI slowly grew into the game as the first half wore on. They got a goal back in the 23rd minute after Deletioglu was called for handball in the box resulting in a Rhode Island penalty. It was slotted into the top left corner by redshirt senior Patrick Agyemang, who gave the Fordham defense fits all day with his speed and elite hold-up play.

The game would continue to be 2-1 throughout most of the second half until the 83rd minute, when Rhode Island struck again. Agyemang would net yet another for Rhode Island, getting his second goal of the season off of a corner kick by graduate student Edvin Akselsen. Akselsen lifted the ball over the outstretched hands of Fordham graduate student goalkeeper Demetri Skoumbakis right to the head of Agyemang, who made no mistake with the finish. 

Both teams did not have enough time to pull ahead, resulting in a 2-2 finish. In the final few minutes, Fordham put on the pressure with attempts from freshman Andre Insalaco and graduate student Daniel Espeleta. Still, Rhode Island’s freshman keeper Hinke managed to thwart them. 

In terms of numbers, Rhode Island outshot Fordham 18-11, yet Fordham had an advantage in shots on goal with eight compared to URI’s five. Goalkeeping was on point today for both squads as Hinke recorded five saves for Rhode Island, while Skoumbakis recorded three saves for Fordham.

After a tough battle against a strong Rhode Island side, Fordham will seek a win next week as they face off against the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies. So far, the Bonnies are 2-4-1 on the season as they dropped their opening A-10 matchup last week to George Mason University by a score of 2-1. 

That game will be played on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Olean, N.Y., and will be available to be live streamed on ESPN+.