Nov. 9, 2008
Cambridge, Mass. -
The Fordham University water polo squad competed at the 2008 CWPA Northern Division Championships this weekend at MIT where the Rams took fifth place in the eight-team tournament.
The Rams opened play on Saturday with an 8-7 loss to third-seeded Iona before coming back later in the day to defeat seventh-seeded Queens College, 13-7. Fordham then upended fourth-seeded Harvard in the fifth-place game, 10-8, on Sunday morning.
With the 2-1 weekend, Fordham closes out the 2008 season with a 13-10 record, the Rams' first winning season since 1987.
In the Iona loss, the Rams faced the Gaels for the first time this season as schedule game on October was canceled by Iona due to schedule violations.
The first quarter went back and forth between the two New York teams. Iona drew first blood, but sophomore Alex Powell quickly tied the match for Fordham. Iona tallied another point, but again, Powell matched the Gaels with a goal off a foul shot from seven yards out.
The second half continued the seesaw action with Iona scoring first in the quarter. Sophomore Ryan Hultman answered for the Rams with a goal a minute and a half later on an extra man situation. Then, after one of the Gaels got kicked out of the game for charging senior goalie Timmy Will, Powell netted his third goal of the match to give Fordham a 4-3 lead before Iona answered the goal with one of its own. Sophomore Mark Connor ended the quarter with a goal to send the Rams into half time with a 5-4 lead.
The third quarter proved to be all Iona. The Gaels scored four unanswered goals in the first 7:30 minutes of the quarter to take an 8-5 lead. Sophomore Jakob Muller scored on a blistering shot from nine yards out with 29 seconds left for the lone Fordham goal, pulling the Rams to within two, 8-6.
The final quarter of the game proved to be exciting as the fans urged their respective teams to score and come away with the win. Sophomore Scott Nemecek scored the lone goal of the quarter with 2:53 remaining in regulation. Fordham had several chances to score in the remaining moments, including two shots that just missed the net after being tipped. But the Rams were unable to convert and the Gaels came away with the 8-7 victory.
Will finished with 13 saves in net for Fordham.
In the next game, the Rams looked to avenge a regular season, double overtime, loss to Queens College, which they did with a 13-7 win.
Fordham jumped out to an early lead twenty seconds into the first quarter with a goal from Hultman off a cross-goal pass from Powell. Nemecek drew a penalty shot with four seconds left in the quarter and Powell buried the five meter shot for a 2-0 lead.
The second quarter featured an invigorated Queens College team. The Knights quickly scored two goals, including a backhand shot from six yards out that snuck past Will. Fordham came back and answered with three goals of their own from sophomore Martin de Jong, freshman Andrew McKernin, and a breakaway goal from Hultman to make the score 5-2.
Queens came knocking on Fordham's door again, scoring on an extra-man advantage when Will appeared to swipe the ball out of the cage before it broke the plane of the goal line, but the referee ruled it had. McKernin drew a penalty shot with six seconds remaining in the half and put his shot in the net, making the score 6-4 going into the half time break.
Queens opened the scoring a minute into the third quarter but Fordham dominated the rest of the period. Junior Andrew Dentinger notched a goal a minute and a half later and Muller added two goals within two minutes of each other before Powell scored on an extra man advantage to make the score 10-5.
With a commanding five goal lead, Fordham seemed to coast through the fourth quarter. Queens scored on a two-on-none chance following a Fordham turnover where Will did not have a chance to make a save. Freshman J.D. Shrewsbury answered with a breakaway goal of his own less than a minute later and McKernin notched his third goal of the match a minute later making the score 12-6. Queens scored one last time before Hultman scored the final goal of the match to close out the game at 13-7.
Will had a solid game in net with ten saves while Hultman and McKernin each scored three times.
In the final game of the tournament, the Rams defeated Harvard for the second time this year, upending the Crimson, 10-8, to finish in fifth place.
McKernin led Fordham in the Harvard game with three goals while Tim Simo, Todd Conway and Muller each added two goals and de Jong one. Will recorded 15 saves in net for the Rams.
For the tournament, McKernin led the Rams with six goals in the three games while Powell and Muller each added five and Hultman scored four.
(Rick Bettger contributed to this story)
