By Anthony Ali
The Fordham water polo team headed to California this past weekend to start its annual west coast trip. As a prelude to the Gary Troyer Tournament, which began on Friday, the Rams played a doubleheader on Thursday, where they fell to Cal Baptist, 10-8, before beating Mt. San Antonio 10-7.
To open the Troyer Tournament, the Rams again split the matches, defeating Occidental College 12-7 prior to a close 12-11 loss against Fresno Pacific University.
Playing Cal Baptist, a team that had received six votes to be ranked in the Top 20, the Rams held their own, trailing by only one goal by the end of the first quarter with a score of 4-3. The Lancers, however, added two goals to their tally by halftime to give them a 6-3 lead.
Fordham proceeded to outscore them in the third quarter two goals to one, making it 7-5, but was unable to bring itself any closer, as goalkeeper Joseph Moorman made an astonishing 16 saves to hold the lead.
Sophomore R.J. Simmons led the Rams in scoring with two, while juniors Davis DeFontes, Bobby Wurtz and Andrew Gonzalez scored one each. Rounding out the scoring were freshmen Ethan Vandeventer and Matthew Farrell, along with senior Ori Raz. Senior Noah LeBeau made seven saves in net.
The Rams rebounded with a comfortable win over Mt. San Antonio, having never trailed once in the match. Maintaining its lead 3-1 lead after the first quarter, Fordham extended their lead to 6-3 and never looked back, ending the third quarter with a sizeable five goal lead, with the score at 9-4.
Raz led the scoring, with four, followed by DeFontes who had two. Simmons scored his third of the day in the match, and was accompanied on the scoresheet by junior Patrick Reyes, freshman Cameron Shewchuck and reigning CWPA Northern Division Player of the Week, senior Eric Minowitz, who had seven steals to go with his goal.
Next up was the first day of the Gary Troyer Tournament, where the Rams also went 1-1. Starting its day against Occidental College, Fordham displayed some serious firepower early on, scoring five goals in the first quarter, with junior Patrick Lenihan netting his two goals of the game in this early flurry.
Simmons would again find his way onto the scoresheet, helping to extend the Rams’ lead to 7-3, along with fellow junior Mike Hay. Simmons and Reyes netted again in the third, with Farrell, Minowitz, and Shewchuck finishing the scoring in the final quarter to secure the win.
Riding the momentum from its first win of the day, Fordham started its second match red-hot, bagging the first two goals of the match against Fresno Pacific University. Unphased by the early goals, the Sunbirds tied things up, setting up exciting second and third quarters, where they took a 7-5 lead.
Fordham tied the game up at 9-9 with only 3:30 remaining on the clock, but FPU scored 12 seconds later to halt Fordham’s momentum and take the lead for good. Overall, Raz netted four goals on the day, with Simmons and Gonzalez each netting a pair of their own.
The results leave the Rams at 10-7 for the season, matching their exact record from last year at this point in the season. The Rams are set to return for their first home game of the season on Oct. 15, against St. Francis (No. 20) at 7:30 p.m., after they finish up the Troyer Tournament against Chapman and La Verne.
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Anthony Ali is a Staff Writer for The Fordham Ram.