Fordham grew increasingly desperate on Sunday, Oct. 13, as the clock ticked away and the University of Rhode Island (URI), a team that has not won an Atlantic 10 (A10) conference game in almost three years, held on to their one-goal lead. 

With only minutes to spare, Margaret Roughley, Gabelli School of Business at Rose Hill (GSBRH) ’20, won her team a penalty, which Saige Bingman, GSBRH ’21, put away emphatically, tying the game and sending the match into overtime. Fordham, however, could not replicate the overtime success of their two previous matches, and the game ended in a draw. 

Fordham started the first half aggressively against a young and inexperienced URI side, in which 14 of the 27 squad members were freshmen. They were quick to rack up five shots against the URI Rams, though none of the attempts seriously challenged first-year goalkeeper Teresa Morrissey, URI ’23. 

Despite Fordham’s early chances and their superior possession stats, URI got better as the game went on, ending the half with four shots to Fordham’s six. In the final minute of the half, Grace Haggerty, URI ’22, hit a rocket of a free kick just inches above the crossbar, sending URI into halftime on a positive note.

URI carried this momentum into the second half, scoring less than a minute after the whistle was blown. Tali O’Leary, URI ’23, sent the ball through Fordham’s defense to meet Rebecca D’Anna, URI ’22, on the right wing. D’Anna proceeded to hit the ball past helpless Fordham goalie Kelly LaMorte, FCRH ’20, and into the left side of the net. 

URI continued to lay on their attack even after scoring and had several other dangerously close shots throughout the second half. They certainly did not look like a team winless in the A10 since October 2016, and Fordham’s defense scrambled to keep the game within one goal.

Fordham was dangerously close to a loss (just as URI was close to a historic win) when Roughley, in a great position to score, was taken down in the box by a URI defender, a tackle which the referee deemed a foul. URI goalkeeper Teresa Morrissey guessed the right direction, but Bingman’s penalty kick was far enough into the bottom left corner that it was impossible to save.

The match, tied at 1-1, eventually went to double overtime, but neither side came out the winner. 

This result sees Fordham move up to fourth place in the A10, tied with the University of Massachusetts and Davidson College with 10 points. Given that most of the teams close to Fordham in the rankings dropped points over the weekend, the result is not as detrimental to their league position as it could have been.

On Thursday, Oct. 17, Fordham will face its toughest opponent yet in a match against Saint Louis, a team that has not lost in the A10 conference since the 2017-2018 season, though Fordham will look to capitalize on their home-field advantage. They will then travel to Philadelphia to play against Saint Joseph’s on Sunday, Oct. 20.