Fordham Water Polo will vie for its third straight conference championship after a 22-7 finish to the regular season. Running away with the #1 seed in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC), the #15 ranked Rams have a clear path to retaining their conference title and earning an automatic bid in the NCAA tournament.
The Rams wrapped up their conference slate at the end of October, but scheduled two weeks of non-conference action to stay sharp.
Following a win last Wednesday against Iona College in the Judge Cup, Fordham closed out their regular season schedule with two road matches against Connecticut College and Brown University.
Fordham exercised its dominance on Friday with a 23-3 win in an absolute shellacking of Connecticut College. The Rams tallied 11 goals in the first half while holding the Camels scoreless.
Head coach Brian Bacharach seized the opportunity to get some action for his depth pieces in the second half. Freshman Gabriel Gunane took full advantage, tallying a season-high five goals, four of which came in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Jagger McMannis posted a hat trick while freshmen Reid Thorson and Berk Oral each netted two goals apiece.
After junior Thomas Lercari shut out the Camels in the first half, Bacharach gave his starting goalkeeper the rest of the night off. Junior Riccardo Di Giuseppe and freshman Panayiotis Giannas shared the net in the second half, holding the Camels to just three second half goals.
The 20-point margin of victory marks the largest of the season, and it’s the fewest goals the Rams have allowed dating back to last October when they allowed two against Mercyhurst College.
Fordham would face a steeper test the following day, capping off their regular season with a matchup against a Brown University squad ranked 20th in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) national polls. Brown had bested Fordham earlier this season with a 18-13 victory in the season’s opening weekend.
The Rams would get the last laugh, defeating the Bears on the back of a second half surge.
Brown held a 5-4 lead late in the second, but a pair of markers from freshman Barnabas Eppel and one from junior Jacopo Parrella gave Fordham a 7-5 lead at halftime.
The Rams completely took over in the third quarter, outscoring Brown 6-0 as juniors Lucas Nieto Jasny and Luca Silvestri each scored twice in the frame.
The Fordham lead stood at 15-5 by the time Brown netted their first goal of the second half, coming on a penalty shot with six minutes left in the fourth. By that point, it was far too late as the Rams secured a 16-7 win. Lercari was stellar in net, racking up 13 saves and a pair of assists and steals, while Parrella led the offensive attack with a four goal day.
The victory marks Fordham’s first win against Brown since 2009, with the Bears winning the last 15 contests. For the Rams, it’s just their second win in program history against Brown, who has won 28 of 30 matches against Fordham dating back to their first meeting in 1999.
With the pair of weekend wins, the Rams close out their regular season with a 22-7 record, including a perfect 12-0 in conference play. Excluding a COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, it marks the fourth straight season that Fordham has posted 20 or more wins.
They’ll now shift their attention to the upcoming MAWPC tournament, set to begin this Friday, Nov. 17. Claiming the top seed in the conference, Fordham has earned a bye straight into the semifinals on Saturday, where they’ll play the winner of Wagner College and George Washington University. As a result, it would take just two wins for the Rams to claim their third straight conference title.
