It was a showdown between the Atlantic 10’s #1 offense against the #1 defense on Thursday night at Jack Coffey Field.  In the end, Fordham’s top-rated defense kept the Saint Louis Billikens off the scoreboard, while Kristina Maksuti scored in the 51^st minute, as the Rams took the 1-0 victory.

 

With the win, Fordham improved to 10-4-0 on the year, 4-1-0 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Louis fell to 8-6-0 overall, 2-3-0 in the conference.  The win gives Fordham its first 10-win season since the 2008 season.

 

Fordham was the aggressor from kickoff, registering the first five shots on goal, making Saint Louis goalkeeper Hanna Benben busy as she made all five stops.  The Rams controlled most of the half, outshooting the Billikens, 10-2, but the game remained scoreless at the half.

 

The Rams didn’t wait long to finally get on the board in the 51^st minute.  Nicol Natale started the action with a run down the left side, crossing the ball to the top of the six-yard box.  Jessica Widmann’s initial shot was blocked, but eventually ended up on the foot of Carlie Wagner, who tapped the ball forward to Kristina Maksuti.  Maksuti quickly turned and fired a shot from 12 yards, scoring just inside the right post for her fifth goal of the season.

 

The Rams anchored down over the final 39 minutes for the 1-0 victory, as the Billikens were held without a shot on goal.

 

For Maksuti, it was her 22^nd career goal, which moved her into a tie for fourth on the Fordham’s career goals list with Danielle Tanzi (1994-96) and Leah Jerome (2003-06), while also moving her into a tie for fourth in career points at Rose Hill with Jerome at 55.

 

In goal, Megan Fitzgerald made two saves for her sixth shutout of the season, while Benben finished with eight stops for the Billikens.

 

The Fordham women’s soccer team will next be in action on Sunday, October 18^th, as the Rams travel to Dayton to face the Flyers at 1:00 PM.