BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) released the Men's Varsity National Top 20 and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Polls on Wednesday for week 4 of the 2017 water polo season.
Among the newcomers to the polls is the Fordham Rams, who for the first time since the 1980's, cracked the National Top 20 poll at #19, while also taking over the #2 spot in the MAWPC Top Five poll.
Fordham earned seven points in this week's national poll, which put them at #19 along with Air Force, Pomona-Pitzer and Loyola Marymount.
The bump in the polls comes a few days after the Rams (7-3, 3-0 MAWPC) upset then-#18 George Washington, 8-7, in Washington, D.C. Fordham also picked up league road wins over Johns Hopkins and Navy this past weekend.
Fordham is led this season by the scoring duo of
Massimiliano Mirarchi and
Jake Miller-Tolt, who rank first and second in most team categories, as well as the goalkeeping of
Alex Jahns. Mirarchi has a team-high 39 goals to go with eight assists and 17 steals, while Miller-Tolt has 16 goals to go with a team-highs of 20 assists and 30 steals. In net, Jahns has 66 saves in eight contests to go with 20 steals and two assists.
The Rams will have an immediate challenge to stay in the National Top 20, as Fordham plays at #16 Bucknell (#1 in the MAWPC Top Five Poll) on Sunday, October 1
st, at 1:30 PM.
| 2017 Men's Varsity Top 20 (Week 4/September 27) |
| Rank |
Team |
Points |
| 1 |
University of California-Los Angeles |
100 |
| 2 |
University of Southern California |
95 |
| 3 |
University of California |
90 |
| 4 |
Stanford University |
85 |
| 5 |
University of the Pacific |
80 |
| 6 |
Long Beach State University |
75 |
| 7 |
University of California-Irvine |
70 |
| 8 |
University of California-Santa Barbara |
64 |
| 9 |
Pepperdine University |
61 |
| 10 |
University of California-Davis |
56 |
| 11 (T) |
Princeton University |
44 |
| 11 (T) |
Harvard University |
44 |
| 13 |
University of California-San Diego |
39 |
| 14 |
Brown University |
32 |
| 15 |
California Baptist University |
26 |
| 16 (T) |
St. Francis College Brooklyn |
20 |
| 16 (T) |
Bucknell University |
20 |
| 18 |
San Jose State University |
17 |
| 19 (T) |
United States Air Force Academy |
7 |
| 19 (T) |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
7 |
| 19 (T) |
Loyola Marymount University |
7 |
| 19 (T) |
Fordham University |
7 |
| RV |
George Washington University |
3 |
| RV |
Whittier College |
3 |
| RV |
United States Naval Academy |
1 |
| RV |
University of Redlands |
1 |
