16 Men’s Soccer Tops Holy Cross, 2-1

Worcester, Mass. – (August 24, 2018) – Behind big efforts from seniors Janos Loebe and Dan Miklos, the 16th-ranked Fordham Rams came away with a 2-1 road victory at Holy Cross in men's soccer action on Friday night in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was Fordham's first season opening win since 2011. "Our guys put in a lot of work tonight against a good Holy Cross team," said head coach Jim McElderry after the game. "It's only our first match, but good personality showed through tonight." The Rams came right out of the gates on the attack, as five minutes in, Janos Loebe found Johannes Pieles with a cross in front, which deflected on goal with Holy Cross' Henry Stutz making the save. Loebe would contribute to a goal later as Fordham opened the scoring in the 28th minute. On a free kick, Loebe fired a shot toward goal from 20 yards out that Stutz made the save on. However, the rebound got away from the keeper with Fordham's Sameer Fathazada cashing in with a quick put back for his first goal as a Ram.

Dan Miklos

The lead did not last long as Holy Cross tied the game at one in the 33rd minute. Simon Becher put a shot toward the Fordham net off a set piece cross that Fordham goalkeeper Dan Miklos made the stop but the rebound would go off Joergen Oland's arm for a handball, awarding a penalty kick to the Crusaders. Owen Azrak capitalized with a shot into the lower left corner of goal, tying the game at one. Fordham continued to put pressure on the Holy Cross goalkeeper as both Oland and Andron Kagramanyan each had scoring chances that were stopped by Stutz to end the half. The second half was extremely physical, but it was Fordham that came away with the go-ahead goal in the 76th minute. On the rush, Jack Sluys got a touch pass across to Loebe at the top center of the box, which he crushed into the back of the net for his first of the season and a 2-1 lead. It was a milestone goal for Loebe, as it was his 20th career goal and 61st point, which moved him into sole possession of tenth on Fordham's all-time goals list and tied for seventh in career points. The Rams would hold off a number of chances over the final minutes, which included a Holy Cross shot glancing the top of the crossbar and over the net with under two minutes left, to wrap up a season opening victory. In goal, Miklos, who started for Fordham for the first time since 2015, earned his first career win, making three saves on the night, while Stutz ended the game with six stops. "I could not be happier for Dan," said McElderry. "He made a few big saves and helped lead the group. We have new faces on our team, but our returning players gave us the leadership we needed." The Fordham men's soccer team will next be in action on Labor Day weekend, when the Rams head to Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Invitational. Fordham meets #12 Wisconsin on Saturday, September 1st, for a night match, while playing Northwestern on Monday afternoon.