On This Date Presented by Belmont Realty
 
With the 2020 fall sports season canceled by the COVID-19 outbreak, we at Fordham have decided to dig back through our archives and provide our fans with content on some of the outstanding teams and student-athletes who have graced Rose Hill over the years.
 
September 27, 1969 – (Bronx, N.Y.) – After falling to club team in the early 1960’s, the Fordham men’s soccer team returned to varsity status in 1969 with head coach Frank Schnur at the helm.  The first win for the team came against Fairfield by a 3-2 score at Edward’s Parade.
 
The win was sparked by Felix Oraumbo’s hat trick, a good defense and inspired goaltending by Rich Arnardo and Phil Barbara, as the Rams posted their first victory after dropping their opener to King’s Point, 3-1, just three days earlier.
 
Oraumbo scored his initial goal midway through the first half. The Rams managed to manuever the ball in front of the net, and from twenty yards out, Oraumbo scored into the upper left corner.
 
Two minutes later, Oraumbo skirted the left side of the field and rammed the ball into the lower right corner from ten yards out to give the Rams a 2-0 lead.
 
Although the Rams seemed to gain momentum from these scores, a defensive lapse cost them a goal. A lost pass was tipped in by the Stags and the Ram lead was cut to 2-1.
 
Fairfield then capitalized on a free kick and scored from five yards out on a rebound early in the second half to tie the score at two.  At the same time, goalkeeper Rich Arnardo suffered a thigh injury that forced him to leave in favor of Phil Barbara.
 
The Rams however rallied behind the backup keeper, as Oraumbo again drove down the left side, taking a pass from Jim Prokop and beat the Fairfield goalie from twenty yards out for what proved to be the decisive score. 
 
The win was the first varsity win for head coach Frank Schnur, who went on to coach the team for a total of 34 seasons, recording a school record 260 wins.
 
The hat trick by Oraumbo was only the second-ever record by a Ram in a varsity game, joining Carlos Fernandez in 1952, the very first season of the original varsity men’s soccer team.