After a road loss to start the season, the women’s soccer team rebounded with two wins at home. The two wins were excellent defensive efforts, resulting in shutout victories of 4-0 over Wagner College and 2-0 over Stonehill College. In the two games combined, the Ram’s defense allowed four times fewer shots at 13 than their opponents who allowed 54 in total. They hoped to take that momentum into their next matchup this past Thursday with their Leukemia Awareness game against Stony Brook University.
Stony Brook started the first half controlling the ball but only got off four shots in the first 20 minutes of the contest, two being on target and saved by Fordham’s goalie, sophomore Kyla King. Although unable to maintain control of the ball for a considerable amount of time, the Rams made the most of the opportunities given to them, getting off seven shots in that same time frame. Four of those seven came from sophomore forward Sydney Nicholas.
At the 19-minute mark, the Rams were given a corner kick after Riley Carroll’s shot hit the crossbar and rolled off a defender out of play. The two freshmen, Lena Johnsen and Carroll teamed up, leading to the first goal of the game after the Stony Brook goalie mishandled Johnsen’s corner, and Carroll was able to tap it in. Two minutes later, a foul in the box led to a penalty kick for Fordham. Graduate student Caroline Monahan capitalized on the opportunity and easily netted the shot, giving Fordham a 2-0 lead.
Stony Brook cut the lead in half after a score in the 38th minute, sending the game into the half at a score of 2-1. Fouls plagued the Rams throughout the game, after 11 in the first half they committed 12 in the second, for a total of 23 on the day. One of the fouls led to a corner kick for Stony Brook, which was headed in for the equalizer. The Fordham offense threatened in the final two minutes but could not find the back of the net, ending the game at a 2-2 tie.
Fordham’s next matchup came against Fairfield University at home on Sunday. On a hot day in the Bronx, where temperatures would reach 90 degrees, the Rams and Stags battled it out. Through the first 30 minutes of the game, the two sides certainly felt the heat, with neither team able to put together a successful offensive possession and both defenses dominating. This all changed at the 33-minute mark after King grabbed the ball outside the penalty box, resulting in her being handed a red card and disqualifying her from the game. Fairfield capitalized on the free kick and took a 1-0 lead.
Due to the red card on King, Fordham would go the rest of the game playing 10 against 11, putting them at a clear disadvantage. Fairfield took advantage of the mismatch and scored two more goals in the second half, putting them up 3-0.
At the 84-minute mark, a long punt from senior Serena Mensah, who replaced King, to forward Carmen Hardwick led to a Cambrie Arboreen goal, cutting the deficit to two. That would be the only point scored by Fordham as they lost the game 3-1.
The tie and loss put the team at 2-2-1 for the season. Next up, they face Columbia University at home on Thursday night before traveling to the University of Albany for a Sunday day game.
