With the sizable home crowd willing their team to victory, Marist men’s soccer delivered a stirring 2-1 upset win over nationally-ranked Fordham.
Fordham (3-2-1) entered play ranked 18th team in the nation, and Marist (2-4) faced an uphill battle early on. Despite allowing an early goal to star junior midfielder Daniel D’Ippolito, the Red Foxes bounced back with strong defense and a pair of unlikely goals from senior forward Richard Morel catalyzing a much-needed win.
Coming into the match, Marist’s primary concern was defending D’Ippolito; the team captain had already notched four goals and an assist in just five matches played. Adding to concerns was the absence of sophomore defensive stalwart Nicholas Sanchez, who served a suspension after drawing a pair of yellow cards in a 2-0 loss to UAlbany on Monday night.
D’Ippolito wasted no time validating Fordham’s national ranking with a goal in just the third minute of play. Junior forward Bennett Leitner set the play up by slicing across the Sanchez-less Marist defense, eventually firing off a cross to D’Ippolito on the left side. D’Ippolito then curled a strong shot that snuck inside the right post past the reach of graduate student goalkeeper Jamie Lowell. For Marist, it was the second time this season they ceded a goal just three minutes into a match.
“Unfortunately, once again, we told our guys what was gonna happen [with D’Ippolito], and he got on the board early. We let him loose for a second,” said head coach Matt Viggiano. “From then on, we kept him off the sheet, so I guess job done at the end of the day.”
With Marist reeling early, Morel began to establish his presence. In the 10th minute, Morel capped off a lengthy Marist possession with a close-range shot on goal, but graduate student goalkeeper Carter Abbott stretched out to corral the shot.
Given another opportunity in the 32nd minute, Morel delivered, tying the match in improbable fashion. Morel received the ball from around 40 yards out and slithered up the right side and through multiple defenders. As he closed in toward goal, Morel sent in a shot towards the middle that ricocheted off graduate student midfielder Louis Lehr and into the back of the net.
“After a while, we already had that sense where if we went down, it’s alright, we’ve been here before. We’ve just gotta keep going, just go with the flow, and I think that’s what we did,” said Morel.
Before the half, sophomore midfielder Kyle Evans corralled an errant corner kick and fired a strong shot from near the 18, but Abbott lept up to make the save. As the half wound down, senior forward Paolo Primavera reeled off a promising shot from the right side, but Evans cut off the angle to deflect it. Evans’ celebratory reaction punctuated a resilient first-half effort from the Red Foxes, who outshot Fordham (6-1 SOG advantage), in addition to earning more corner opportunities. (4-1)
In the second half, Marist’s attack continued materializing, with the Red Foxes earning several promising looks.
Marist took the lead on a dizzying sequence in the 65th minute that ended with Morel scoring his second of the night. Freshman defender/winger Evan Marques sent in a free kick from the left side to freshman forward/midfielder Chris Verheul, who was stationed in front of the right post. Verheul then fed the ball inside to a crowd of players; sophomore midfielder Arion Ulaj received it and assisted Morel, who knocked it off his chest and into the goal to put Marist ahead 2-1
Immediately, the Marist bench swarmed Morel and company near the corner flag. A brief video review put a slight damper on the mood, but officials quickly confirmed the goal and the celebrations resumed.
After Morel struggled to reestablish himself as a junior while returning from a severe knee injury, his breakthrough effort in tonight’s match held a deeper meaning for him.
“Personally, I think this was one of the biggest moments [of my career],” said Morel. “I had a grudge on my shoulder coming in, just loss after loss after loss, and I wanted to do everything for my team to pull us to victory. I think today was exactly what we had in mind.”
Morel’s effort had a similar impact on Viggiano, who got choked up when discussing his performance.
“I get emotional, I love that kid,” said Viggiano. “Coming off the knee injury, he just wasn’t the same last year, he’s just–he’s my guy. I told [assistant coach Ricky Cusano] before the game that he was gonna score tonight, and I guess it’s nice to be right once in a while.”
Marist will look to use tonight’s rousing win as a springboard for their season as they trudge towards MAAC play; the Red Foxes will return to the home pitch next Saturday against LIU at 7 p.m.
Edited by Marley Pope
Graphic by Raegan VanZandt; Photos from Kira Crutcher and Jaylen Rizzo
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