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.