Oct. 5, 2012
Claremont, Calif. -
It was an exciting day of water polo action at the 2012 Gary Troyer Tournament in Claremont, California. After a tight loss to Redlands earlier in the day, the Fordham water polo team pulled out a come-from-behind 10-9 overtime victory over La Verne in match two.
In the opening match of the day, Fordham fell to Redlands by an 11-8 score.
Redlands opened up a 4-1 lead six minutes into the first quarter, getting a pair of goals from Michael Robinson, but a late marker by Patrick Lenihan pulled Fordham within two.
The Rams closed the gap to one by the half, 6-5, as Landon Kern, Davis DeFontes, and Nicholas Allen each scored in the second quarter.
A 2-1 score in the third quarter left Fordham behind by two, 8-6, heading into the final frame. A comeback though was not in the work as Quinn Curl scored twice within a 1:20 span to put the game out of reach for Fordham.
For the Rams, Lenihan led the way with three goals, while Clinkinbeard, Kern, DeFontes, Allen and Dan Kearney had one goal apiece. In net, Noah LeBeau registered 11 saves.
In match two, DeFontes scored with 28 seconds remaining in overtime to give Fordham a 10-9 overtime win over La Verne.
The tight match was tied at two after the first period with LaVerne taking a 6-4 lead at the half. Fordham cut the deficit to one after three periods at 7-6, and forced overtime at eight all.
Each team netted a goal in the first three minutes of overtime, before DeFontes registered the game-winner with 28 seconds remaining.
DeFontes netted two goals in the game for Fordham, while Bobby Wurtz, Allen, Clinkinbeard, and Lenihan also had two goals each. In net, LeBeau made 13 stops.
The Fordham water polo team will wrap up its stay at the 2012 Gary Troyer Tournament on Saturday with matches against Fresno Pacific at 5:00 PM and Pomona-Pitzer at 9:00 PM.
