As the reigning back-to-back champs of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC), the Fordham Rams know a thing or two about winning league games. That’s exactly what they did this past weekend, opening conference play with a four-game sweep and improving their conference win streak to a whopping 22 games.
After opening their season with seven straight non-conference games, four of which came against ranked opponents, the Rams turned their attention towards the MAWPC, traveling to Lewisburg, Pa. for the Bison Invitational, hosted by Bucknell University.
Fordham would kick things off bright and early, squaring off against host Bucknell in a 10 a.m. Saturday matchup. The Rams overcame a slow first quarter to take a 7-5 lead heading into half, thanks in large part to a second quarter hat trick by sophomore Balazs Berenyi. The Bison kept things close, cutting the Fordham lead to one not once but twice in the fourth quarter. Still, it wasn’t enough as the Rams’ next three goals in the final 90 seconds secured them a 14-11 win.
Berenyi finished with four goals, accompanied by a hat trick from junior George Papanikolaou while junior Lucas Nieto Jasny dished out a season-high five assists.
Despite a more than six-hour wait for their next match of the day, Fordham looked sharp as ever for their 6 p.m. affair with Johns Hopkins University, coming away in triumphant fashion with a resounding 21-8 victory. Twelve different Rams tallied a goal in a complete team effort that also saw junior goalkeeper Riccardo Di Giuseppe record a season-high nine saves. The offensive attack was highlighted by a trio of hat tricks from Nieto Jasny, junior Luca Silvestri and freshman Barnabas Eppel, who notched the first hat trick in his collegiate career.
On Sunday morning, it was the defense’s turn to bask in the spotlight as the Rams defeated Wagner College 14-5. Trailing 2-1 after one quarter, Fordham scored the next 12 goals in the game as their defense held Wagner scoreless from the beginning of the second quarter until halfway through the fourth quarter. The Rams completely tilted the pool as Wagner went over 20 consecutive minutes of gametime without finding the back of the net.
Di Giuseppe posted seven saves as his five goals allowed marked the fewest for the Rams in the early 2023 season. On the offensive side, Silvestri posted his second straight hat trick while junior Gabriel Melillo notched a game-high four goals.
Fordham closed out the four-game weekend with their third straight victory of double digit points, defeating Mount St. Mary’s University by a score of 21-11. Luca Silvestri notched his third straight hat trick, all three goals coming in the second quarter as the Rams took a 12-7 lead into halftime.
Then the defense flexed its muscles yet again, holding the Mountaineers scoreless in the third and without a goal for over 13 consecutive minutes of gametime while the Fordham offense continued to tack on. Junior Jacopo Parrella tallied four goals alongside hat tricks from Silvestri, Nieto Jasny and junior transfer Paul Armingol as the Rams finished off a four-game conference sweep.
The weekend marks Fordham’s first weekend sweep of the 2023 season, improving to 8-3 overall and 4-0 in MAWPC play. Boasting back-to-back conference championships, it’s no surprise that the Rams have enjoyed their fair share of success in league play. That being said, prepare to be surprised.
On top of their active 22-game win streak against conference opponents, the Fordham Rams are 37-1 in the MAWPC dating back to 2020. Simply put, that’s a run of sheer dominance by head coach Brian Bacharach and his program.
It’s easy to be excited about the Rams right now. They just outscored four MAWPC teams 70-35 and seem to be the clear favorites for a third straight league title. A few weeks into the season, the offense has hit its groove. Returners like Parrella, Papanikolaou, Nieto Jasny and Silvestri have picked up right where they left off last season while newcomers like Armingol and Eppel are adjusting nicely to the system. On the defensive side, Fordham is smothering opponents, and that’s despite an injury to First Team All-MAWPC goalkeeper Thomas Lercari, who’s yet to play this season. With that in mind, one starts to wonder what the ceiling for this team might look like.
Following 11 straight road games to start the season, the Rams will have a hard-earned break with no matches this upcoming weekend.
After the break, they’ll continue this stretch of conference play, eyeing down five more MAWPC opponents before their next non-conference match.
The Rams return to action on Sept. 30 with three more road games as they’re set to play George Washington University and the United States Naval Academy as well as a second match against Johns Hopkins in a three-game weekend.
