UMass women fall to Fordham in A-10 tournament

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Despite a pair of quality scoring opportunities, the University of Massachusetts women's soccer team was unable to break through against the Fordham defense, falling 3-0 in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Thursday evening at Charlotte's Transamerica Field. The Minutewomen, who made their first postseason appearance since 2004, close out the year with a record of 6-11-2, while the Rams advance to the semifinal round with a mark of 9-11-1 overall.

In the 18th minute, UMass threatened to jump on the board first as the ball came to Ashley Hamel (Gansevoort, N.Y./Schuylerville) at the top of the box off a corner kick. Hamel ripped a shot on target; however a Fordham defender was in place to clear the ball off the line.

Then at 30:24, Annie Warden was able to punch one past Lauren Luckey (Hendersonville, Tenn./Pope John Paul II) amidst a crowd in the box following a service by Lauren Nowakowski to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.

Fordham increased its advantage to 2-0 as Michelle Ancelj's long-range strike found the top right corner past freshman Emily Cota (Green Lane, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) at 56:04.

The Minutewomen were robbed by the Rams' defense once again in the 69th minute as a Fordham player stopped sophomore Lindsey DiOrio's (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) low shot from finding the inside of the far post.

Shortly after that opportunity for UMass, the Rams added a third tally as Mariella Romano sent a cross to Megan Cookson, who found the back of the net at 71:21.

Fordham finished with a 27-7 shot advantage and led in corner kicks, 7-2. Rams' netminder Rachel Suther totaled three saves, while Luckey and Cota recorded six and seven saves for the Minutewomen, respectively. Fouls were 9-6 against Fordham.