By Charlie Maisano
With an A-10 Tournament spot already clinched, the Fordham women’s soccer team wrapped up the regular season last week. However, the last two games did not end the way it thought they would.
A match at Jack Coffey Field for the quarterfinals was still in play when they welcomed the Saint Joseph’s Hawks to the Bronx. Both teams entered the contest with one loss in conference play and a win would help guarantee a home playoff game.
Neither the Rams nor the Hawks could get anything going offensively in the first half. Fordham took two shots on goal, both of which were saved by goaltender Grace Bendon, while Saint Joseph’s had zero shots on goal.
The scoreless first half carried over into the second half. The Rams added another two shots on goal and still could not get the ball past Bendon. The best opportunity Fordham had came in the 81st minute by sophomore Emma Johnson. Johnson sent a screamer from the left side of the field, but Bendon stopped the ball before it reached the back of the net.
Ninety minutes was not enough for the two squads, so overtime ensued. Six minutes into the additional period, Saint Joseph’s took their first shot on goal of the night. A free kick by Paige Bergman made its way into the box and found Mackenzie Ehresman. After the ball deflected off of Ehresman, Morgan Bower tracked the ball and sent a strike past junior goalkeeper Kelly LaMorte for her sixth goal of the season.
The 1-0 victory for the Hawks put a damper in the Rams plans to host a first round game in the A-10 Championship. In order to have a chance of finishing in the top four of the conference, Fordham needed to beat Duquesne in the last game of the regular season.
Unfortunately, the team did not get the win, as they fell to the Dukes in Pittsburgh, 1-0. The lone goal of the day once again came late in the match, this time by Lexi Kendro. In the 87th minute, Katie O’Connor took a shot and missed it off the post. Kendro was in the right place at the right time and scored off the rebound for her first goal of the season.
“We didn’t take enough risks,” said Fordham head coach Jessica Clinton. “We ask our group to take risks and play with courage. We sat back and allowed Duquesne to dictate the play early in the first half. We were much better in the second half. However, Duquesne caught us late in the game when I kept pushing the group to take risks.”
With the loss, the Rams ended the regular season at 9-8-1 overall, 6-3-1 in the A-10. They finished in 6th place in the conference and will be back in the conference tournament for the first time since 2016.
“We set an initial goal of getting back to the A-10 Tournament and the group did that,” said Clinton. “They worked hard to clinch a spot early on and we are extremely proud. Our senior class has now been the A-10 tournament for the third time in their career. We have a special group that is able to accomplish a lot and we’ve seen that continually this past season.”
The first game in the playoffs is against none other than Saint Joseph’s. The match will be in Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.
Clinton said her team is more than prepared for the big rematch.
“The group is pumped up. It’s one of those games where you want a rematch. St. Joe’s might not, but we do,” said Clinton. “The moment I told the older group that we were playing St. Joe’s – the immediate response was ‘let’s go’. You want that confidence headed into post season.”
