Oct 17, 2005 -- This past Wednesday night, the Rams faced off with MCHC Central Division rival Columbia in a classic defensive struggle with Fordham coming away with a hard fought 4-1 win. Columbia, coached by former NHL and Russian Red Army defenseman Alexei Kasatonov, played a hard checking game, but the Rams were up to the task. After a scoreless first period, Fordham opened up the scoring with goals midway through the second period as junior Dave Improta and a power play goal from sophomore Matt Pangia put the Rams up by a 2-0 mark. Pangia and junior transfer Stephen Barrett would score in the third period to put the game out of reach. Meanwhile, goalie Joe Wichowski kept the Lions at bay , turning away 31 of 32 shots, allowing a late Columbia score with only 1 minute left in the game.

On Saturday, the team headed to Bridgeport Connecticut's Wonderland of Ice for an afternoon match up with Fairfield. Another hard fought game saw Fordham come away with an impressive 5-2 win against a team that the squad had never beaten. The game featured a lot of penalty minutes by both teams as the Rams grinded and grinded to work for all their goals. Junior Steve Casey opened up the scoring with a goal late in the first period, while sophomore Jorge Rocha got his first goal of the year with less than a minute remaining. By game's end, Rocha - a Villanova transfer - would score two more times to get the hat trick. Defensively the team was absolutely stellar, standing up the Stags who only last season mercy-ruled Fordham at this same rink. In the nets, again Wichowski showed why he is one of the premier MCHC goalies by turning away an astounding 48 shots on goal.

Team notes:

• Both Fordham and Fairfield went a combined 2-18 on power play attempts.
• Despite winning its first two league games, the Rams have been out-shot in both contests.
• The Rams renew their rivalry with Southern Connecticut State this weekend - the two teams have not played each other since a 10-0 mercy rule victory by the Owls during the 1992-1993 season.
• Fordham has a record of 2-11-3 versus Southern Connecticut since the 1980-81 season.
• Southern Connecticut captured two league championships during the 1983-84 and 1990-91 seasons.
• Saturday night, the Rams once again face off against Columbia for the final time this season when they visit the Lions' new home rink in Hackensack, New Jersey.
• The past three years both Fordham and Columbia had been skating their home games out of the Ice Hutch.