West Hartford, Conn. - After waiting nearly a week and a half to meet again, the men's soccer team made sure one Fordham team was victorious in the state of Connecticut after defeating the Hartford Hawks 1-0 on Saturday night in West Hartford. The Rams are off to a 2-0 start and next face #7 Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska next Friday, September 9, at 8:00 P.M.

The Hawks went on the offensive early as Ryan Wahab took a shot on goal in just the fifth minute of action. Senior goalkeeper, Ryan Meara made the stop to keep the game scoreless. Fordham countered barely a minute later. After earning a corner kick, John McHugh angled a pass into the box that senior defender Phil Ferrantello headed into the far corner of the net to give Fordham a 1-0 lead.

Hartford would have another scoring opportunity in the nineteenth minute. This time it was Connor Yeaney who took a turn at goal, but once again, Meara was up to the charge, and made his second save of the half. Fordham took a 1-0 advantage into the halftime break.

Following the intermission, Hartford went on the offensive again. In the fifty-first minute, Mathias Axelsson let go a shot at net that Meara careened for his third save of the match, which helped preserve the Fordham shutout. From there, the Rams countered and had an excellent scoring chance off another corner kick in the fifty-seventh minute. Once again, McHugh took the kick from the flag and curled it to Tim Richardson, whose volley was saved by Hawks' goalie, Luke Citriniti to keep the deficit at 1-0.

The Hawks had one final offensive surge in the seventy-fourth minute. Eventually Patrick Boucher got his head on the ball and deflected a shot to net, by Meara grabbed it for his fourth save of the game. The Rams held on for the 1-0 shutout.

The win was the second straight shutout for Fordham and Meara and his strong defensive personnel. Interestingly, the undefeated Rams have seen both of their tallies this season come from backline players in Ferrantello and Michael Stalker. In the blanking, the Rams were out shot 11-5, but dominated the corner kicks, 8-3. Meara finished the game with four saves and earned his second straight shutout.

The Rams are on 1-0 on the current, five game road trip as they return home on Wednesday, September 21, when they host Marist College. The kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 P.M.

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