Josh Levine made an 11th-hour save to help Fordham win. (Photo courtesy of Fordham)

DAYTON, Ohio – Two goals within a three-minute span lifted the Fordham University men to a 2-1 victory over St. Louis University in the Atlantic 10 semifinals at Baujan Field Thursday.

Fordham (6-0-2) advanced to the Atlantic 10 Championship match as the team will face George Washington at noon Saturday (ESPN+).

The Rams had an early scare as Saint Louis went on the attack in the 21st minute, when John Klein went on a run and took a hard shot that Fordham goalkeeper Josh Levine made a diving stop to keep the game scoreless.

Fordham’s luck took a bad break in the 35th minute, as a cross into the box was deflected by Sebastian Fabrin into the Rams’ goal for an own goal and a 1-0 deficit.

The Rams equalized at 1-1 in the 55th minute. Jack Sluys played a long ball into the box from the midfield line. The ball went off Alberto Pangrazzi’s head to Matt Sloan at the top of the box for a one-timer inside the left post to tie the game. It was Sloan’s third goal of the season.

Only 2:55 later, Fordham grabbed a 2-1 advantage, when Galen Flynn settled the ball and played a cross into Pangrazzi for a header inside the right post from 12 yards for his first score of the year.

Levine and the Fordham defense kept the Billikens at bay but not without a couple of dangerous chances in the final seconds, as a ball into the box deflected off a head and hit the top right corner of the net with 20 seconds left, while a cross with 10 seconds remaining was punched away by Levine. A final cross into the box was then smothered by Levine to end the match.

Levine recorded five saves while his Saint Louis counterpart Patrick Schulte had six saves.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.