After a rough day on Saturday, the Fordham water polo bounced back with a pair of victories on Sunday at the Messmore Aquatic Center. The Rams topped MIT in an 11-10 overtime thriller, while defeating Connecticut College, 15-10.
With the two wins, Fordham improves to 7-5 on the year, 2-2 in the CWPA's Northern Division.
The day started with a water polo classic as Fordham and MIT played into sudden death overtime, where
Nicholas Allen scored 28 seconds into the fourth overtime on a penalty shot to give Fordham an 11-10 win over the Engineers.
Fordham opened the game with a 3-1 lead after the first quarter with Allen scoring twice and
R.J. Simmons adding the other marker.
MIT returned the favor, outscoring Fordham 3-1 in the second quarter to knot the game at four by halftime.
The Engineers then grabbed a one-goal lead, 6-5, heading into the final quarter and leading to an amazing finish.
Fordham tied the game on an extra-man goal by Allen, but MIT scored the next two goals to lead 8-6 with 4:58 remaining. The Rams would come back to knot the game at eight, taking advantage of two man-up opportunities. First, it was
Andrew Gonzalez with a goal followed by Allen's fourth goal of the game to tie the score.
MIT regained the lead at 9-8 with just over two minutes to play, but Fordham stayed resilient, as
Ben Clinkinbeard scored an extra-man goal with four seconds left to force overtime.
Each team scored once over the first two three-minute periods of overtime, forcing the game into sudden death overtime. No one scored in the third period of overtime, but 28 seconds into the fourth session of overtime, Fordham was awarded a five-meter penalty shot. Allen made that shot count, putting home a skip shot into the left corner for the game-winning tally.
For Fordham, Allen finished with five goals, three steals, and three blocks, while Gonzalez and
Davis DeFontes each had two goals. Clinkinbeard also ended the match with a goal and three assists. In net,
Noah LeBeau played the entire contest, making 11 saves with two steals.
In game two, the Rams took care of the Connecticut College Camels by a 15-10 score.
Fordham led throughout the contest, as Allen again led the way offensively. He tied a career-high with six goals to go with two assists, while Gonzalez had three goals and two assists. Clinkinbeard added a goal and four assists with
Bobby Wurtz having a goal and two helpers. Other goal scorers for Fordham included DeFontes,
Patrick Reyes,
R.J. Simmons, and
Dan Kearney. In net, LeBeau made seven saves.
The Fordham water polo team will next be in action on Tuesday, October 1
st, when the Rams host Iona at 7:30 PM.
