Women’s Soccer Heads to Saint Joseph’s for A-10 Quarterfinals

Bronx, N.Y. – (October 26, 2018) – For the ninth time in program history and third time in the last four seasons, the Fordham women's soccer team is in the Atlantic 10 Championship, taking the sixth seed in this year's tournament. The Rams will be on the road to start the Championship in the quarterfinal round, as the team travels to Philadelphia on Saturday for a 7:00 PM match against the third-seeded Saint Joseph's Hawks. Fordham (9-8-1, 6-3-1) has a 5-8-2 record all-time at the Atlantic 10 Championship, appearing in the final three times, most recently in 2015, as well as in 206 and 2007. The Rams are very familiar with their quarterfinal opponent, as Fordham and Saint Joseph's just played each other at Jack Coffey Field on October 18th. After 90 minutes of scoreless action, the Hawks would get the deciding goal in overtime from Morgan Bower for the 1-0 win. Saint Joseph's (13-4-2, 8-2-0) is led offensively by Dakota Mills and Hannah Racis. They are tied for the team lead in points with 15, as Mills has seven goals and one assist on the year, while Racis has six goals and three assists. Bower also has six goals on the year for the Hawks. In net, Grace Bendon has started all 19 games, posting a 0.77 goals against average and seven shutouts. GAME COVERAGE: Saturday – Saint Joseph's at Fordham – 7:00 PM ET – Live Video (ESPN+) | Live Video (International) | Live Stats | Follow on Twitter @FordhamWSoccer | Atlantic 10 Women's Soccer Championship Bracket (PDF) | Championship Central SERIES HISTORY: This will be the 24th all-time meeting between the Rams and the Hawks with Fordham holding the series lead at 10-8-5. The Hawks cut into that series last Thursday with a 1-0 win in overtime. Fordham's last win over Saint Joseph's came in 2015. This is the first meeting in the Atlantic 10 Championship. SALMON HITS MILESTONE: With her start against Saint Joseph's on October 18th, Fordham senior defender Brooke Salmon started her 76th career game, setting a new school record for career starts. She surpassed the previous mark of 75, held by Laura Muzzati (2004-07) and Jessica Widmann (2011-15). For career games played, Salmon looks to set a new mark on Saturday, as she is tied with Natalie Sims (2014-17) and Mariella Romano (2008-11) with 79 games played at Rose Hill. Saturday will be career game #80 for Salmon, which would make her the first women's soccer player at Fordham to reach that mark, and join three men's soccer players (John Wolyniec, Matthew Lewis, and Jannik Loebe) as the only soccer players in Fordham history to reach 80 games played.

Kelly LaMorte

RECORD IN REACH: Junior goalkeeper Kelly LaMorte has had an excellent season in goal for Fordham. Heading into the Atlantic 10 Championship, she is in reach of a pair of single season records. She currently has eight shutouts, which is just one shy of the single season record of nine, held by Megan Fitzgerald in 2015, while her 0.75 goals against average sits right behind the school record of 0.69, set by Jen Byer in 2007. It is worth noting that in both 2007 and 2015, Fordham made the Atlantic 10 Championship final. Among Atlantic 10 goalkeepers, La Morte ranks second in shutouts, third in goals against average, and fifth in save percentage (.797). WHO'S NEXT: If the Rams win, Fordham will move on to the Atlantic 10 Championship semifinals, which will be held at Baujan Field in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday, November 2nd, against the winner of VCU-George Washington.