The Fordham water polo team was back in the pool on Friday, as the Rams began play in the Gary Troyer Tournament in Claremont, California. The Rams had two matches, falling to Cal Baptist, 11-10, while defeating Occidental, 10-8.
With the split, Fordham is now 10-6 on the season.
In game one, Cal Baptist edged Fordham by one, 11-10.
Behind 5-3 at the half, Fordham fought to within one, 7-6 at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth,
Peter Bergum scored in the opening minute to knot the game at seven. Cal Baptist would regain a one-goal lead at 8-7 and 9-8, but Fordham kept coming back with goals from
Davis DeFontes and
Ori Raz to leave the game tied at nine with 4:30 left.
The Lancers though scored twice over the next two minutes to take an 11-9 lead.
Patrick Lenihan scored for Fordham to pull the Rams back within one, 11-10, with 1:56 remaining. Fordham would get a final possession with a chance to tie, but Cal Baptist got a steal in the closing seconds to seal it as Raz couldn't corral a dump-in pass.
For Fordham, Raz finished with four goals to lead the attack, while Lenihan had two markers.
Nicholas Allen,
R.J. Simmons, Bergum, and DeFontes rounded out the Fordham scoring with one goal apiece. In net,
Noah LeBeau played the entire game, making 11 saves.
In game two, Fordham topped Occidental by a 10-8 count.
With the score knotted at six, Fordham used three straight goals to take control of the game.
Allen, Lenihan, and Simmons each had two goals in the match for Fordham, while DeFontes,
Eric Minowitz, Raz, and
Dan Kearney each had one marker. In net, LeBeau had 12 stops for the Rams.
The Fordham water polo team concludes its west coast swing on Saturday, as the Rams take on 18
th-ranked Redlands at 1:20 PM Eastern and LaVerne at 6:40 PM Eastern.
