The men’s soccer team continued their 2021 season with a victory over Atlantic 10 opponents La Salle University with a tough 2-1 victory. La Salle opened up the scoring with a goal by Junior Nare. Nare picked up the ball from around midfield, went to just outside the box and fired a shot that found its way into the back of the net. Nare’s second goal of the season gave his team the lead over the Rams.

That slim lead lasted only 12 minutes. In the 36th minute, the Rams had a throw-in opportunity. When graduate defender Matt Sloan threw the ball into the box, it ended up bouncing off the head of a La Salle defender and into the back of the net to even the score at 1-1.

It remained tied until the 65th minute when Fordham finally had a breakthrough. The ball was in the La Salle box, and found its way to sophomore midfielder Max Rogers, who whipped the ball into graduate midfielder Jacob Bohm, who flicked a header into the right side of the box. Senior defender Jack Sluys then took the ball and fired a shot, beating the goalkeeper and giving the Rams the go ahead goal. 

After that, the Rams focused on defending their slim lead in the remaining minutes. La Salle pushed for the equalizer, but had no success with sophomore goalkeeper Nick Buchholz making his one and only save for the Rams in the 68th minute. La Salle kept on pushing, but ended up running out of time. 

When the whistle blew, Fordham won the match with a 2-1 scoreline against their conference opponents. La Salle outshot Fordham, taking nine shots compared to Fordham’s six, but the Rams were more clinical with their shots with three on goal compared to two for the losing team.

This was the Rams’ first match within the A-10 conference, giving them a 1-0 conference record. With this victory, the men’s soccer team is now 2-4-1 overall in the season. 

This week, the Rams have two matches with the first one on Wednesday, September 22, as they travel to Rider University for a 7:00 p.m. kickoff. Then their next match is at home at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday against another A-10 rival George Washington University. These two A-10 rivals faced off in last year’s A-10 final, with Fordham winning their fourth conference title by a score of 2-0. They then play another match next Tuesday at home against Seton Hall University. With the season now fully in motion, the Rams will hope to use this recent victory as a foundation to erase the shaky start of the season.