By Alvin Halimwidjaya
Over the week, the Fordham men’s soccer team won their home opener against Marist 2-1 on Wednesday, Sept. 13 at Jack Coffey Field. They went on to defeat Quinnipiac 1-0, on Saturday, Sept. 16 at QU Soccer Stadium in Hamden, Connecticut. With two wins earlier this week, the Rams now have their first three-game winning streak of the season.
“As a team, we were struggling in scoring at the beginning of the season and now that we have that figured out things are moving in the right direction,” junior goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu said. “One of the areas which I think we are successful with is the defensive side. As a group we do work hard off the ball and defend to stop the opponent from scoring.”
Junior forward Janos Loebe agreed with that general sentiment. “We have been very strong defensively the last few games, conceding only one goal in the last three games.”
On Wednesday night, Marist struck first in the 16th minute, with Allen Gavilanes finding Samad Bounthong with a cross from the left side of the pitch. Though they persisted in their attack, Nuhu played a big part in holding them to only one goal, saving four of Marist’s eight shots in the first half.
“In games like that, for me as a goalkeeper I try to do my best to keep the game tight because it’s difficult to come back from being down two or three goals,” Nuhu said. “When a team like Marist who were very attacking-oriented and liked playing fast, the only way was to put them off their rhythm and that is to slow the game down and make the players in front of me calm.”
In the second half, Fordham’s offense came to life, as they took eight shots as opposed to Marist’s two. In the 62nd minute, junior defender Owen Lawrence, who had subbed on earlier in the game, sent a pass from midfield into the right side of the box, where sophomore defender Joergen Oland equalized with his first goal of the year. In the 81st minute, junior defender Matt Miller crossed the ball into the box, and Jannik Loebe found Janos Loebe on the right side to give Fordham the 2-1 win.
On Saturday, the Rams and the Bobcats struggled to get their offense going, as they limped through a scoreless first half with only four shots in total. In the 68th minute, Fordham finally broke through as freshman midfielder Ross Willox slipped a through pass to Janos Loebe, who broke the deadlock and scored his third game-winner of the year. Nuhu recorded two saves in the Rams’ fourth shutout of the year.
Fordham’s next few games will be played at home, with four of the next five games being played at Jack Coffey Field. “It is very nice to have the next games at home, especially after six away games. The fact that we don’t have to travel and to have ‘our’ people watching the game is a big advantage for us,” Loebe said. “As a team, we have to protect our home field and not lose points on our own turf,” Nuhu added. “We know getting points away from home is tough to do, so we need to take advantage of having four of our next five games at home and get some more wins under our belts.” The Rams’ next game is against Manhattan College at home on Wednesday, Sept. 20th, in their annual “Battle of the Bronx.”
