Sept. 10, 2016 Box Score
BRONX, N.Y. - The Lafayette men's soccer team put together an all-around team effort at Fordham on Friday evening, registering its first win of the season with a 3-1 victory over the Rams in Bronx, N.Y.
Freshman Evan Vare netted the first two goals of his career, one coming early in the second half to put the Leopards ahead by a 2-1 margin, and the other late to seal the victory. The Jamison, Pa. native has started all five games at forward for the Maroon and White in his rookie season.
Junior goalkeeper Brad Seeber was excellent as well, making six saves on the evening, including stopping a penalty kick that would have tied the game at one midway through the first half. Seeber's aggressive play allowed him to shut down a number of Fordham scoring opportunities, particularly in the early stages of the second half.
The win is the first for the Leopards on the season, improving their record to 1-4 and dropping the Rams to 1-3-1 on their campaign. Shots finished at 20-8 in favor of the home side and Fordham took 10 corners compared to just one for Lafayette.
"Our overall team effort was tremendous. Fordham is a talented attacking team and I was happy with how our guys executed," head coach Dennis Bohn said. "Brad made some huge saves and Evan showed his true ability. Our entire program has stayed positive after a rough start and we were rewarded tonight."
Lafayette came out strong, looking to put the first part of the season behind them with an early tally. Following a steal in the midfield, Vare seemed to catch Fordham goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu sleeping and attempted a shot from about 35 yards out that had to be pushed over the end line for a corner.
That early momentum swing carried through the majority of the opening stanza before sophomore Joe DeStefano put Lafayette on the scoreboard for the first time this season in the 40th minute. A long throw from junior Christian Moyse found its way into the box where it couldn't be settled by a number of players from each side. Eventually, the ball found the foot of DeStefano, who popped it into the high corner to give the Leopards the 1-0 lead.
With 29 seconds remaining in the half, the Rams looked to have the equalizer, though, drawing a foul in the box and an opportunity at a penalty kick. Jannik Loebe stepped up to the spot and fired a shot to Seeber's right, but the Leopard net minder guessed correctly, making an excellent diving save to keep Lafayette on top into the halftime break.
Fordham pushed for a tying marker immediately out of the intermission, forcing a diving save by Seeber off a close free kick three minutes into the second stanza. That push paid off about eight minutes later when Dantae Greer put the Rams on the board. Working at the top of the box in the middle, he broke down the Lafayette defender and placed a turn-around shot perfectly inside the left post to knot the game at 1-1.
The score line stayed that way for just over four minutes before Vare put his offensive talents on display. Working all the way down the left side of the field, the rookie beat his defender and found his way toward the near-post side of the six-yard box. Vare put a move on both the defender and Nuhu, beating the keeper to his short side for the eventual game-winning goal.
As the game moved through to its latter stages, Fordham pushed to try to find an answer, but Lafayette's defense continued its stout play. Seeber came through with an aggressive close-down save at the high right corner of the box in the 62nd minute and Moyse produced back-to-back diving blocks of threatening Ram crosses in the 75th.
Vare finally put the game away in the 85th minute off a beautiful counter play with fellow rookie Dylan Royalty. Royalty stole the ball in the back and played an excellent through-ball for Vare sprinting down the middle of the field and toward the right corner of the box. Vare cut back on a defender and fired a shot past Nuhu for the insurance tally to seal the 3-1 win.
Lafayette will have a full week of practice before its next game, set for next Saturday, Sept. 17 at Yale. Opening kick in that contest is set for 7 p.m.
