Demetri Skoumbakis was outstanding in the first half. (Photo courtesy of Fordham)

The Fordham University men opened their home schedule with a 0-0 draw against 16th-ranked Providence College at Jack Coffey Field in the Bronx on Sunday.

Goalkeeper Demetri Skoumbakis made four saves as he recorded his first clean sheet as a Ram.

The visitors had two prime chances in the first half. In the 16th minute, Brendan McSorley rocketed a shot from distance that Skoumbakis got his right hand on to keep it out of the net. In the 25th minute, McSorely made a run and cut to the top of the box for a shot that Skoumbakis smothered.

At the other end, Providence’s Lukas Burns (five saves) was also up to the task, picking off a set piece shot by Ben Shepherd in the 32nd minute to the upper right corner.

The two offenses continued to be stymied in the second half with the best chance coming from Fordham’s Florian Deletioglu in the 73rd minute, as Burns came out of his net to make a save at the corner of the six-yard box with the rebound being cleared away.

Deletioglu had another chance in the 89th minute following a yellow card to Providence, but Burns knocked that opportunity away.

Fordham visits LIU on Friday, Sept. 2 at 4 p.m.

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.