After a scoreless first half on Tuesday night, the annual Battle of the Bronx match-up in men’s soccer between Fordham and Manhattan turned into shootout with four goals in the second half.  Fortunately for Ram fans, three were from the Maroon & White, as Fordham topped Manhattan, 3-1, at Jack Coffey Field.

 

With the win, Fordham evens its record at 2-2-0, while Manhattan fell to 1-2-0.  The win was the seventh straight by Fordham over Manhattan, and improved the Rams’ record to 9-0-1 in the last ten meetings with the Jaspers.

 

The offensive explosion in the second half began in the 57^th minute.  Fordham’s Andrew Hickey took a corner kick from the near side, which was fumbled away by Manhattan goalkeeper Alex Coates McDowall.  Jon Agostino was then right on the doorstep to clean up the loose ball and score his first goal of the season.

 

Eight minutes later, the Jaspers’ comeback hopes became tougher, as Joe Hulme was red carded, leaving Manhattan down a man for the final 25 minutes.

 

The Rams took advantage of having the extra man in the 73^rd minute, as Fordham made it, 2-0.  The play once again started with a Hickey corner kick from the near side.  The cross went to the far post, deflecting off the back of a Manhattan defender, and was knocked off the line momentarily.  Andres Penfold then one-touched the ball into the net for his third goal of the season.

 

Just two minutes later, Manhattan struck back with a penalty kick goal by Daniel Laguna Kennedy, which resulted from a handball in the box.

 

Fordham then regained a two-goal lead in the 78^th minute, as Penfold did the damage again.  Hickey played a pass forward to Penfold, allowing him to cut into the middle of the field.  He then blasted a shot from 35 yards out that snuck inside the right post for his second goal of the game, and fourth of the year.

 

Penfold became the first Ram to record two multi-goal games in the same season, since Brian Borrhello registered three for Fordham in 2002.

 

In net, Sean Brailey made three saves for his second win of the year, while McDowall also had three saves.

 

The Fordham men’s soccer team will next be in action on Saturday, September 13^th, when the Rams travel to Newark for a 4:00 PM match against NJIT.