EASTON, Pa. – Lafayette men's soccer clashed with Fordham on Tuesday evening at Moglia Stadium at Jack Coffey Field. The hosts took home a 1-0 victory thanks to a goal by Bennett Leitner in the 80^th minute.

Proceedings began with strong pressing by the hosts, but the Leopards sat in and absorbed early offense from the Rams. In the 16^th minute, a Fordham defender spotted Leitner running in behind the Leopards' back line. The winger played the ball across the box with one touch, but Luke Pompliano's effort soared wide.

The Rams continued to maintain possession and had another opportunity in the 21^st minute. Daniel D'Ippolito managed to beat his man inside, but senior goalkeeper Eric Axtman confidently collected his shot. Moments later, senior defender Nicholas Liebich was called into action when he beat Fordham's striker to a dangerous cross, clearing away any immediate danger.

Fordham created a lot of promising attacks from wide areas, but sophomore midfielder Cade Maglione was disruptive all half. In the 34^th minute, Maglione and classmate Gabe Faust won the ball back near midfield, which sprung a counter attack. The ball eventually made its way back to the Allentown, N.J. native, but Thomas Gray calmly diffused the situation.

The hosts created a few set piece opportunities in the final minutes of the half, but the score stood still at 0-0.

Right out of the intermission Fordham created a chance. Andre Insalaco was striding down the right flank before he received the ball from a teammate. The forward beat a man and chopped onto his right foot looking for a shot, but defender Jackson Vajda was quick to put in a block.

After 15 minutes of second period play, the match began to open up. Senior Connor DeAngelis sprayed a long diagonal out to Maglione in the 62^nd minute, which required goalkeeper Tristan Stephani to concede a corner kick. Lafayette whipped the ball into a dangerous area, but Stephani did well to command his box.

The Rams broke the deadlock in the 80^th minute. D'Ippolito had possession 20 yards from goal before he slipped Leitner in behind. The forward didn't think twice before shooting, but his effort took a nasty deflection off a Leopard defender and the ball trickled in past Axtman.

The Leopards brought on more attacking players in the final 10 minutes of the contest, which created problems for Fordham's back line. With 30 seconds to go, the ball was bouncing around in Fordham's penalty area, but the hosts responded well to Lafayette's offensive wave. At fulltime, the hosts snatched a 1-0 victory.

The Maroon and White return home on Saturday at 2 p.m. as they play host to Fairfield for their Cancer Awareness Game.
 

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