Rams tie Richmond, fall at Fordham
Faith Hutchins recorded her fourth clean sheet of the season last week. PHOTO CREDIT: Eddie Melfi | Staff Photographer
The University of Rhode Island Women’s Soccer team continued its winless streak in conference play, drawing with Richmond despite a dominant performance and dropping a 3-1 decision against Fordham.
The Rams had an opportunity in Kingston to get a crucial win against Richmond Thursday. URI came right out of the gate in dominating fashion, peppering the Spiders with chances. Hope Santaniello and Christina Sallent were the main sources of these chances early on, generating crosses with creativity in the middle of the field and on the wings.
Unfortunately, as was the story all night, the Rams couldn’t find the final product. A great opportunity midway through the second half came the Rams’ way when midfielder Leila Rosenthal received a through ball at the edge of the box and fired it just over the net, keeping the game at 0-0.
Richmond worked their way back into the match in the last 15 minutes of the half, but the Rams went into the break with 15 shots to Richmond’s five, mainly due to the dominant defense of Rhody defender Jordyn Allen. Head Coach Megan Jessee said she was very impressed with the defensive effort and felt Allen was a centerpiece of that effort.
“I thought Jordyn was great today,” Jessee said. “She showed skill, she showed athleticism. She was a leader at the back.”
The second half was more of the same; after a cagey start, Rhody had some of their best chances of the night with a Sallent free kick and some deadly counterattacks. Within ten minutes of each other, the Rams found themselves one-on-one with the goalkeeper two different times, with forward Sam Hagerty putting herself in excellent positions. However, Spider keeper Taylor Montague was equal to them both to keep the tie.
In the 75th minute, Sallent took a free kick just outside of the box, whipping it into Santaniello who headed it toward the goal. Montague again made the save to continue Rhody’s offensive drought.
That would be Rhode Island’s best opportunity of the game as the full-time whistle would sound with both teams tied at zero.
Jessee was pleased with her team’s ability to create chances, creating a whopping 26 shots on the night, but was ultimately disappointed with the draw.
“We did a great job of creating chances,” Jessee said. “That’s the hard part. We just need to work on finishing those chances.”
Santaniello said the Rams must continue their offensive aggression in order to end their conference struggles.
“We just need to keep doing what we’re doing,” Santaniello said. “We need to keep playing aggressive and eventually things will come.”
URI had another opportunity to build on their offensive performance when they traveled to Fordham Sunday. However, the battle of the Rams did not go Rhody’s way.
The first half was hotly contested, with both teams knocking on the door early, but it was Fordham who opened up the scoring just before halftime, scoring in the 45th minute to take a 1-0 lead heading into the break.
Fordham picked up where they left off ten minutes into the second stanza with a twenty-yard arrow into the top corner to double the advantage.
Senior forward Tali O’Leary would put the Rams on the board in the 79th minute off a deflection from senior forward Brooke Cavino, but Fordham would score a third and final goal in the final five minutes of play to finish the match at 3-1 in favor of the home Rams.
The Rams will next play Saint Bonaventure on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Kingston with a win necessary to make a run for the conference tournament.