Last Monday, the Fordham University Rams earned a hard-fought draw at Moglia Stadium in the Battle of the Bronx at their annual matchup against the Manhattan University Jaspers. The Rams had some fresh faces in this one, with sophomore goalkeeper Leo Perelman making his debut and senior defender Owen Hardy starting for the first time in his Fordham career. The Jaspers shocked the Rams in the first half, putting in a two-goal performance on the road. Manhattan got on the board in the 13th minute when a cross from senior forward Tony Yeboah was poked home by sophomore Ziv Dahan. Twenty minutes later, the senior from Italy, Sebastiano Musu, played a ball to senior midfielder Ronan O’Brien, who slotted it past the keeper to extend the Jaspers lead to 2-0. Manhattan’s lead held until the halftime break, but that’s when Fordham came out swinging. In the 51st minute, junior forward Andre Insalaco played a ball into the box, flicked on by graduate student Louis Lehr, to the foot of the senior Chris Dixon, who chipped it home. The Rams continued to fight for an equalizer until the 65th minute when junior midfielder Daniel D’Ippolito moved past his defender before whipping a ball toward graduate forward Luke Pompliano, who scored the equalizer. The 2-2 scoreline would hold till the match ended, with Fordham extending their unbeaten run at Moglia Stadium to a staggering eleven games (7-0-4). The comeback result brought momentum ahead of their Atlantic 10 opener.
The Rams began their A-10 campaign in upstate New York when they took on the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies. This one was played over the course of two days after thunder and lightning burst through the night sky after just 31 minutes of action. Unfortunately for both teams, the inclement weather continued for longer than the allowed hour-and-a-half delay period, which led to Fordham spending the night in a hotel, with kickoff scheduled for 10 a.m. the following day. When the match resumed, there wasn’t much of note for either team. The game finished 0-0, with Fordham’s graduate goalkeeper Carter Abbott picking up his second solo shutout of the season. The Rams put four shots on target but could not break the deadlock. The draw brings the Rams to 3-2-3 to start the year as they look to outperform their eighth-place position in the A-10 preseason poll. They will continue the season with more non-conference action on Tuesday, Sept. 24th, when the Rams travel to Columbia University. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in upper Manhattan.
