Water Polo Wins Overtime Thriller to Capture Share of CWPA Crown

Bronx, N.Y. - (Oct. 28, 2009) - Featuring a jam packed crowd, late goals and overtime, the Fordham-Iona water polo rivalry lived up to its billing as a heated affair. In the end, it was Fordham scoring late to force overtime, and then came away with a 15-14 victory over the Gaels at the Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center. With the win, Fordham clinches a share of the CWPA Northern Division title with Brown.

Fordham concludes the regular season with a 12-12 overall record, and a 5-1 conference record, while Iona finishes at 7-10 overall, 4-2 in league play.The wild affair began with Iona grabbing a 1-0 lead before Fordham got three straight goals from Andrew Dentinger, Martin de Jong, and Ryan Hultman. Iona however tied the game at three on goals from Joe Przekota and Brandon Crane to end the frame.

In the second period, Fordham took a two-goal edge at 7-5, netting four goals in the frame. The Rams and Gaels exchanged goals, making the score five all, before Andrew McKernin scored twice in the final 1:35 of the period to give Fordham the lead at the half.

The third period belonged to Iona, as they rallied for five goals, taking a 10-8 lead. After Iona's Kristian Bocage tied the game at eight, Przekota netted the two final goals of the period to put the Gaels ahead.

In the fourth, Iona extended the lead to as many as three at 12-9 on a goal by Seth Tasman, his fourth of the game. Fordham then rallied all the way back to tie the game at 12. McKernin scored with 2:55 to go, followed by an Ali Arat tally with 1:47 left. Arat then scored the equalizer with about one minute remaining. Neither team was able to score in that final minute, leading to overtime.

In overtime, Fordham kept their momentum going, as the Rams scored twice on goals from Hultman and Mikey Edwards for a 14-12 lead in the first three minutes. Arat then made it a three-goal game, as Arat netted his fourth goal of the contest with 2:22 to go.

Iona however wouldn't go away, as Przekota and Tasman each scored their fifth goal of the game to make it, 15-14. Fordham though was able to kill off the final 24 seconds, to win the game by one.

For Fordham, Andrew McKernin and Ali Arat each had four goals to lead the attack, while Martin de Jong had a goal and three assists. Tim Simo dished out four assists, with Ryan Hultman having two goals, an assist, and four steals. Edwards (2), Dentinger, and Jakob Muller closed out the Fordham goal scoring. In net, Christian Flessner came up with 13 saves, including two tip saves near the end of the fourth quarter to keep Fordham within striking distance.

By clinching a share of the CWPA Northern Division title, the Fordham water polo team will be the #2 seed at next weekend's Northern Division Championship in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The Rams will meet Connecticut College in their opening round game at 11:00 AM on Saturday, November 7th.