Matt Ferris
Asst. Sports Editor
In need of a win after starting the season at a dismal 1-4, the Rams opened up conference play with match against Fitchburg State on the road on Sept 19.
Just 14 minutes into the game, the Falcons nearly took the lead, when Jefferson Acha ripped a free kick from about 20 yards out.
Rams goalkeeper Josh Arno dived to his left and made a tremendous save keeping it tied at zero.
Just 15 minutes later, the Rams had themselves a scoring chance, when Igor Pessoni headed a ball on net that eventually got cleared out of the zone by the Falcons, resulting in nothing for the Rams.
In the 42nd minute of action, with the score still 0-0, Rams forward Cory Cardeiro received a pass from Ben Britton and put it in the back of the net putting the Rams up 1-0 going into the half.
The goal marked Cardeiro’s fourth on the season. In the second half, the Falcons had multiple chances to score, but Arno put a stop to every scoring opportunity by making save after save resulting in a final score of 1-0.
Arno ended with 10 saves while earning his first clean sheet of the season. The Rams picked up their second victory of the season, improving their record to 2-4.
On Sept. 23, the Rams traveled to Providence to take on Rhode Island College in a non-conference match.
The Anchormen started the scoring in the 17th minute, when Komla Dogbey chased down a pass from teammate Jose Zarraga, avoided a challenging Arno and tapped the ball into the open goal.
Framingham State came right back with a goal of its own about 20 minutes later, when Rams forward Andy Segura corralled a rebound and blast- ed a shot into the back of the net to tie it at 1-1.
This remained the score going into halftime. In the second half, it was all Anchormen. In the 54th minute, Dogbey scored his second goal of the game, on a breakaway, making it 2-1 Anchormen.
In the 66th minute, the Anchormen struck again. This time it was Yemi Matthew who knocked in an important insurance goal for his first career goal, making it 3-1 Anchormen.
Rhode Island College wasn’t done just yet though, in the 83rd minute, the Anchormen would add one more.
The goal was scored by Nicholas Wolny, and made it 4-1 Anchormen. Arno ended the game with eight saves.
Rhode Island College earned the win after closing the game with three unanswered goals. Despite going
1-1 on the week, the Rams drop to a dis- appointing 2-5 for the season.