Women's Soccer Falls to St. John's and Hofstra

It was a rough weekend for the Fordham women's soccer team, as the previously undefeated Lady Rams dropped both of their games at the Hofstra Invitational, losing 1-0 to St. John's  Friday night and 4-1 to Hofstra on Sunday. Fordham's record on the year now stands at 3-2.

Friday's game was well played by both sides, with both teams totaling 10 shots toward goal. Fordham had the edge early on, with both senior infielder Katie McDermott and defender Danielle Ingram getting shots on goal in the first 10 minutes.

McDermott led the Rams for the game with three shots overall. St. John's, however, broke through six minutes before halftime. Sophomore forward Runa Stefansdottir took a long pass from freshman forward Francisca Okoko and shot it past Fordham sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Suther.

The Red Storm nearly added to their lead 10 minutes into the second half, but junior forward Jen Leaverton's shot went off the crossbar.

The Lady Rams increased their pressure as the second half went on, with five corner kicks in the last 23 minutes of the game and several shots toward goal, but they were unable to get anything past junior goalkeeper Kristin Russell. St. John's improved to 2-2-1 with the win.

"In the second half we dominated the game and had some late corners, but we just couldn't take advantage," Rams' Head Coach Ness Selmani said.

McDermott, a co-captain, agreed.

"Despite the loss, it's probably the best game we've played so far this year," McDermott said. "We were really unlucky not to win."

After playing a very competitive game Friday, the Rams were thoroughly outplayed Sunday afternoon by Hofstra. The first half in particular was a struggle for Fordham, the team was outshot 7-0 and trailed 2-0 at halftime.

Junior forward Laura Greene scored the first goal for the Hofstra Pride, 21 minutes in, hitting one past Suther, off the post, and into the lower left corner after a long run down the right side. Graduate student forward Grace Hawkins than scored her second goal of the season five minutes before the half.

The Pride's momentum continued after the break, when junior midfielder Courtney Breen headed in the first of her two second-half goals just a minute into the half to make it 3-0.

Hofstra nearly added to its lead five minutes later, as Greene's shot went off the post. Fordham finally recorded its first shot 73 minutes in, when freshman midfielderMary Solimine's effort was stopped by senior goalkeeper Krista Thorn. The Lady Rams scored their first goal of the weekend in the 83rd minute when sophomore midfielder Kaitlin Abrams headed in a free kick from freshman defender Kaitlyn Carballeira for her first career collegiate goal.

Breen scored her second goal five minutes later off of a free kick to finish out the scoring.

Selmani singled out the play of Carballeira and Solimine, both of whom are true freshman defensemen who were named to the All-Tournament team.

"They were very steady in the back, despite the 4-1 score," Selmani said.

Hofstra, now 2-1 after the win, outshot Fordham 15-4 in the game.

"It was one of those days where nothing could go right," McDermott said. "We lost a bit of composure Sunday which is why we didn't get a good result. We need to go back to doing the things that we do well."

Fordham will next be in action Friday night at 7 p.m. when the team goes on the road to face Columbia. The Lady Rams then return home Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Long Island.

"We have to regroup and talk about what happened this weekend," Selmani said. "We made mistakes, but they were fixable mistakes. Expectations are high and we beat ourselves."