September 5, 2014

(1-2-0) 1 2 F Lafayette 0 1 1 Fordham 1 1 2 Box Score | Box Score (PDF) (1-2-0)

BRONX, N.Y. - A rocket from sophomore Ryan Egan in the 53^rd minute cut the lead to one, but the comeback bid fell short in the end as the Lafayette men's soccer team fell to Fordham in Bronx, N.Y. on Friday evening, 2-1.

After falling behind early on a tally from Andres Penfold in the 11^th minute and allowing another goal out of the break in the 48^th minute, again from Penfold, Lafayette's offense finally came alive off a free kick in the 53^rd minute.

Following a foul call at midfield, the Leopards' Andrew Gonzalez sent a long looping ball into the top of the box that the Rams had difficulty clearing. Eventually, the bouncing ball found its way to the foot of Egan, who sent a side-swipe rocket into the center of the net before Fordham keeper Sean Brailey knew what had happened.

The goal cut the Fordham lead to one and seemed to swing momentum in Lafayette's favor. However, the Leopards could not find the equalizer in the final 37 minutes and dropped their second straight game by a final score of 2-1.

Egan's goal was one of a number of scoring chances for the Leopards, who managed 10 shots on the night and looked to slowly find their offensive skillsets as the game progressed.

With 14 minutes to play in the opening half, freshman Daniel Felman sent a corner into the box that sputtered around before falling to the foot of senior defender Julian Plummer. Plummer collected himself and fired a shot on goal from about 10 yards out that was miraculously kicked away by Brailey to keep the Leopards off the board.

The other real chance came late in the first half as Todd Forrester ran down a defensive clear into the offensive zone and forced Brailey to clear it over the sideline for a Lafayette throw deep in Fordham territory. Freshman Christian Moyse sent a long throw into the middle of the box that eventully found Golini in the top-center of the 18-yard line. Golini's shot sailed just over the top left corner of the net, hitting the post of the field-goal uprights behind the goal.

Fordham's opening tally was a stunner that seemed to catch the Lafayette defense off guard. With the Rams holding possession to the right of the box, it seemed they were building a play to get a cross in front. Instead, Penfold found a pocket of space just outside the right corner and sent a whipping ball to the high far post that beat Leavy for the opening goal.

Just two minutes into the second 45 minutes of play, Fordham struck again as Kyle Bitterman streaked down the right side and sent a cross to a wide open Penfold on the far side of the six-yard box. Penfold slotted it past Leavy's left side and opened it up at 2-0.

The Rams held a slim 11-10 edge in shots for the game, while the Leopards worked six corner-kick opportunities compared to just one for Fordham. Leavy made two saves in the loss, while Brailey picked up his first win of the year, stopping three Lafayette shots on goal.

Next up for the Maroon and White is a trip to Ithaca, N.Y. on Wednesday to take on Cornell at 7 p.m.