Nov. 20, 2009
Cambridge, Mass. -
The Collegiate Water Polo Association announced the 2009 Men's All-North and All-South Division Teams tonight as part of the 2009 Eastern Championship Hall of Fame Banquet in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Among those honored, Fordham had four individuals take home hardware, led by head coach Bill Harris, who was selected as the 2009 Northern Division Coach of the Year.
Harris wasn't alone in the major award category as Ali Arat (Istanbul, Turkey/Sisli Terakki Secondary) was named Northern Division Rookie of the Year, as well as First Team All-North. Rounding out the award winners, Fordham's Mikey Edwards (Walnut, Calif./Rowland) and Ryan Hultman (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) were both named to the All-North Second Team. This is the second straight year that Fordham has had multiple postseason award winners.
A resident of Rye, New York, Harris is in his sixth season as the head coach at Fordham University, and has turned the Rams into a contending team in the CWPA Northern Division. He led the Rams to a share of the regular season Northern Division title, as well as a runner-up finish at the Northern Division Championship. The Rams also made their first appearance at the Eastern Championship in over 20 years.
In his first collegiate season, Arat was among the Rams' top scorers all season long, as well as ranking in the top ten in the NCAA for most of the year. He entered the Eastern Championship with 62 goals, good for second on the team, and 70 total points, which led the team. He also had 17 multi-goal games, 19 steals, 51 kickouts drawn, and was named Rookie of the Week once.
Edwards, a transfer from Mt. San Antonio College, also had a huge first season at Rose Hill. Going into Easterns, he led the Rams with 64 goals and 19 multi-goal games, and was second in total points with 69. He also added 13 steals, 36 kickouts drawn, and was selected Player of the Week once this season.
In his third year at Fordham, Hultman had another solid campaign, eclipsing the 30-goal plateau for the third straight season. He entered Easterns with 30 goals and 11 assists for 41 points, while adding 18 steals and eight multi-goal games. During the regular season, he earned both the CWPA and NCAA.com Player of the Week award for the week of October 14th, after tallying a career-high nine goals against Queens College.
After falling in sudden death to 20th ranked Johns Hopkins earlier on Friday, the Fordham water polo team still has two more matches at the Eastern Championships. The first will be on Saturday, November 21st, as they play Iona at 1:30 PM. Their Sunday game time and opponent are still to be determined.
All-North Team
First Team
Kent Holland, Goalie (Brown University)
Svetozar Stefanovic (Brown University)
Gordon Hood (Brown University)
Joe Przekota (Iona College)
Ali Arat (Fordham University)
Bret Voith (Harvard University)
Devin Lewis (MIT)
Second Team
Columbus Leonard, Goalie (MIT)
Brian Gardiner (MIT)
Mikey Edwards (Fordham University)
Ryan Hultman (Fordham University)
Emre Erdogan (Iona College)
Corey Schwartz (Brown University)
Connor Matzinger (Connecticut College)
Major Award Winners
Player of the Year - Svetozar Stefanovic, Brown
Coach of the Year - Bill Harris, Fordham
Rookie of the Year - Ali Arat, Fordham
