After finishing off non-conference play with two shutout losses last weekend, the Fordham women’s soccer team began Atlantic 10 Conference play this past week sitting at 2-4-1 for the season.
Fordham began their week welcoming the winless and scoreless George Mason University to the Bronx. George Mason remained scoreless through the first 32 minutes of the game, even with a golden opportunity after being awarded a penalty kick which sophomore goalie Kyla King saved. Two more opportunities were presented to the Patriots off the penalty kick rebound, but one hit the left post while the other was blocked. They finally managed to net their first goal of the season at the 33rd-minute mark off a long shot from Milan Pierre-Jerome. Fordham had their fair share of opportunities throughout the first half with seven shots, but none of them found the back of the net as they would head into the half down 1-0, threatening to hand the Patriots their first win. George Mason added to their lead just nine minutes into the second half with a goal in the 54th minute from Rachel Eberly on another shot from distance. Just one minute later, Fordham cut the lead in half with a goal of their own by junior captain Abby Doyle.
From this point on, the Rams would find their game and not look back, taking 12 more shots in the second half, three of them finding the back of the net. The equalizer came in the 67th minute after a throw-in from sophomore midfielder Julia Holten found freshman midfielder Lena Johnsen, who snuck the ball just under the bar for a beautiful goal. The Rams go-ahead goal involved Johnsen again after her long ball to freshman forward Riley Carroll resulted in the team’s third score of the game at the 73rd-minute mark. The insurance goal came just three minutes later when freshman forward Marie Degroote joined the party on an assist from fellow freshman midfielder Sari Frankl.
The 4-2 victory left the Rams on a high note to start A-10 play before their first away conference game down in the nation’s capital at George Washington University.
In the first 45 minutes of the game, the two teams combined for 14 shots, but only one was on target. That came at the 16th-minute mark when the Revolutionaries had an opportunity, but a diving save by King spoiled it. King had three saves on the day en route to her third shutout of the season. The first Fordham shot on goal came in the 64th minute when graduate student forward Caroline Monahan threatened to break the 0-0 tie. Fordham had a pair of opportunities in the final two minutes, getting two more shots on goal, but both were saved to end the game at a 0-0 draw.
With the win and draw from this week, the team goes to 3-4-2 overall and 1-0-1 in conference play on the season. Fordham continues A-10 play this week, hosting St. Bonaventure University at 5 p.m. on Thursday, followed by a Monday night game at 7 p.m. against Yale University, also at home.
