Over the past week, Fordham Women’s Soccer continued their season with two games on the road. The first game was on Wednesday as the Rams traveled to Hamden, Conn. to face Quinnipiac University.

The Rams didn’t get off to the start they wanted as they conceded first in the 29th minute. Some quick passing gave the ball to the Quinnipiac Bobcats’ Rebecca Cooke who slotted the ball into the net for her team leading sixth goal of the season. Quinnipiac had a chance to double their lead before halftime in the 31st minute but were denied by the Rams’ junior goalkeeper Serena Mensah. Mensah was also needed in the second half in the 67th minute with another fine stop to keep it a one-goal contest. In the 74th minute, Fordham was finally rewarded with an equalizer to tie the game at one apiece. Senior forward Caitlin Kennedy crossed the ball into the box with freshman forward Natalie Velde putting the ball into the back of the net for her first ever collegiate goal.

Unfortunately, the tie didn’t last long with Quinnipiac scoring two more in the span of two minutes and 20 seconds. In the 77th minute, Cooke grabbed herself a brace by heading the ball into the net from a shot that bounced off the crossbar. In the 79th minute, Madison Alves scored her first career goal to make it a 3-1 final in favor of the Bobcats.
The Rams continued their road trip as they came back to the empire state to face Columbia University. The hosts got off to an amazing start, putting Mensah under pressure and forcing the goalkeeper to make three saves in the first seven minutes of the game. Unfortunately, that third saved shot ended up loose in the box with Shira Cohen grabbing her second goal of the season to make it 1-0 Columbia. A few minutes later, Columbia was awarded a penalty for a foul in the box, with Maia Tabion converting from the spot to double the hosts’ advantage. After that, Columbia kept on taking shots, with Mensah ending the half with a career-high seven saves.

After the half, Fordham switched their goalkeepers and brought on junior Maria O’Sullivan. Almost immediately, she was put under pressure. In the 49th minute, Ania Prussak took a free kick that went off of O’Sullivan’s fingertips and into the net to make it a 3-0 lead for Columbia. Then in the 71st minute, Columbia capped off the scoring courtesy of Blake Turner notching her first goal of the season. O’Sullivan recorded six saves in the second half with the Rams totaling 15 saves in the game, the highest total since 2005 when Julie Wynns recorded 16 saves against the University of Rhode Island.

With two defeats, Fordham’s record is now 1-6 including five straight losses. However, Fordham has to put that behind them and focus on their upcoming games, which are all Atlantic 10 Conference games. These will have a huge impact on their chances of making it to the A-10 Championships. The Rams have two upcoming A-10 games with them traveling away to St. Bonaventure University on Thursday at 7 p.m. before playing at home on Sunday against the George Washington University Colonials at 1 p.m.