The University of Rhode Island men’s soccer team defeated Fordham University 4-3 on Sunday for its fourth consecutive win, taking the top spot in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Fordham opened the scoring early in the first half with a goal from fifth-year forward Sam Delgado off a feed from fourth-year Kamran Mojabi in the fifth minute.

Rhode Island quickly answered back two minutes later with a goal from first-year defender Lean Husterer, assisted by third-years Liam Kuemmritz and Collin Martin off a long throw-in by fourth-year Connor Froberg.

“Conceding a goal early is never ideal,” Rhode Island head coach Gareth Elliott said. “We just have to stay the course, you know, it’s tough weather conditions, but we knew we had to keep playing.”

Third-year goalkeeper William Synnestvedt had a career-high 10 saves and made his presence known during the final minutes of the first half, denying a lead-taking attempt by Fordham first-year forward Marc-Alexandre Happi Emaga.

“I think it was just a case of limiting our mistakes,” Elliott said. “It was a really tricky night to play in terms of conditions. The rain was coming down hard; it was really windy, so it was going to be a case of limiting our mistakes and taking advantage of the opportunities when they came.”

Nearly an inch of rain fell in New York, with wind speeds reaching 35 mph. The inclement weather simplified scoring tactics.

“There are some standard things you do in bad weather in terms of clearances,” Elliott said. “Maybe not overplaying in your defensive third and things like that, but it’s more a case of depending on the field and the conditions, so you may just have to adjust a couple of things.”

Rhode Island opened the second-half scoring with a goal in the 67th minute by fifth-year midfielder Tiago Barriguinha off a penalty kick, which would be the first of five goals scored in the span of seven minutes between the herds of Rams.

Fordham responded three minutes later when first-year midfielder Nico Linares found the back of the net on an assist from Delgado.

Second-year defender Maksim Kalina chipped in his first of two goals shortly after, sneaking one past the keeper on an assist by Barriguinha.

Fordham’s final goal was an unassisted score by Delgado that would tie the game for a third time in the 74th minute.

Kalina would punch in his second goal of the match less than a minute later, which ended up being the deciding goal. 

“It was a wild game,” Elliott said. “It was a great game for the neutral. But for those involved, it was more edge-of-your-seat back and forth. But I am proud of the boys and the way they stuck at it and the way they responded every time Fordham scored.”

The Rams now reside at the top of the table with three conference games remaining in the regular season, closing in on their first postseason appearance since 2021.