By Maria Trivelpiece

The Fordham University men’s water polo team hoped that their trip to California for the Gary Troyer Invitational Tournament would be a turning point in their season. This was not the case, as they finished the road trip with a record of 1-3. However, the rough trip served as motivation once they came back East.

They started off strong, however, by beating Occidental 13-8. Senior Ian Watson was stellar, scoring four goals, and junior Jake Miller-Tolt followed closely behind with two of his own. Senior Patrick Coffey had four saves in goal. The win had the Rams optimistic that the California trip could be the boost they were looking for, but adversity struck again.

In game two, Whittier defeated Fordham 13-8. Senior Magnus Sims netted two goals, while Miller-Tolt continued his dominance with a score of his own as well as three assists and five steals, but it was not enough.

Game three was much more promising, as the Rams fought a valiant battle in overtime against Cal Lutheran. Miller-Tolt, Watson and junior George Maltby had two goals apiece and played strong in the extra minutes, but the Rams were unable to hold on and fell by a score of 11-10.

In the fourth and final game of the tournament, the Rams matched up against the current 14th-best team in the nation, Cal Baptist. Again, they sent the match into overtime, but lost 10-9.

The Rams headed back to the east coast with a vengeance to take on LaSalle. In Philadelphia, Fordham pummeled the Explorers by a score of 18-9. Miller-Tolt led the team with his seven goals. With the victory, they improved to 7-12 on the season.

With ten games to go in the season, the Rams will continue to fight for a turnaround to hopefully propel them into the postseason. The victory against LaSalle could be a start. The team will be back in the Bronx on Wednesday night to take on Wagner at 7:30 pm.