University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware
Fordham
Delgado?s Early Goal Gives Delaware Men's Soccer 1-0 Home-Opening Win Over Fordham
8/28/2016 2:11:00 PM | Men's Soccer
Boxscore (.html) | Boxscore (pdf)
NEWARK, Del. -- Blue Hen senior forward Guillermo Delgado scored the only goal of the match 19 minutes into Sunday's home opener as the University of Delaware men's soccer team posted a 1-0 victory over Fordham at sun-splashed Stuart & Suzanne Grant Stadium.
Delgado (left), a three-time All-American who was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List during the preseason, intercepted a pass from Fordham goalkeeper Rashid Nuhu and beat the keeper low to the right side from 10 yards out to account for the only score of the contest.
The senior from Tres Contos, Spain now has three of the Blue Hens' four goals this season, while Sunday's marker was the 40th of his career. He only trails Mike Biggs, who scored a Delaware record 47 goals from 1968-70.
“He (Nuhu) was trying to play around Jaime and I and took a bad touch, and on top of that he slipped, so I just had to wait and pick a side,” Delgado said about his goal. “It was an easy one, but we have to finish them. We always want to get some goals on the scoreboard, but 1-0 is a win and we'll take it.”
The Blue Hens, who improved to 2-0 on the year while posting their second consecutive clean sheet, controlled play for most of the afternoon by holding a 19-5 shot advantage and a 7-2 edge in corner kicks. Sophomore goalkeeper Todd Morton needed to make just one save on the afternoon as he posted his sixth career shutout.
Delaware had numerous chances during the afternoon, including a shot by Ben Sampson that went over the crossbar with 13 minutes to play, a shot by Jaime Martinez (right) that was fired just left of the goal with nine minutes to play, and a Dani Laguna attempt that was tipped over the goal by Nuhu three minutes later.
Fordham, which fell to 0-1-1 on the campaign, had its best opportunity come with 11 minutes to play, but Owen Lawrence's shot inside the box was wide to the right of the cage.
“I like the win,” said Blue Hen head coach Ian Hennessy. “It's always hard early in the season with weather conditions like this, so I was a little nervous about that. Fordham is a very good team, so to start the season 2-0 again at home in front of a very good crowd is always a bonus for us. When you have 19 shots you're hoping to get more than one goal. I think we had some really good opportunities to score, but with the second game of the weekend and our legs a little heavy, overall I'm very happy with the lads.”
Match Notes:
• Delgado led the Blue Hens with five shots on the day, while Martinez added four and Laguna had three
• Delaware has opened with two consecutive wins in three of the last four seasons
• The Blue Hens evened the all-time series with Fordham at 1-1-1, although the teams were meeting for the first time since the 2008 season
• Delaware has out-shot its first two opponents by a 35-16 margin
• The Blue Hens are back in action on Friday when they head to Lehigh for a 7 p.m. match with the Mountain Hawks
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Kevin Tritt at: ktritt@udel.edu (email) / 302-831-8715 (office) / 302-383-5005 (cell)
