The Fordham water polo team was in Princeton, New Jersey on Saturday for a pair of non-conference matches against CWPA Southern Division opponents, Princeton and Washington & Jefferson.
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The Rams opened the day with an 11-3 loss to ninth-ranked Princeton Tigers.
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Fordham trailed 2-1 in the first quarter after a goal by
Davis DeFontes, but the Tigers would net six of the next seven goals to lead 8-2 by the third quarter and never looked back.
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For Fordham, DeFontes had a pair of goals, while
Ethan Vandeventer had the other marker. In net,
Noah LeBeau made nine saves in 3 ½ quarters, while
Patrick Harrigan played the remainder of the fourth quarter.
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Against Washington & Jefferson, Fordham rallied back from a 6-1 deficit to eventually win the match, 12-11, in overtime.
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Trailing 6-1 after the first quarter, the Rams score four times in the second to pull within two, 7-5.Â
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In the third quarter, Vandeventer and
R.J. Simmons scored early in the frame to knot the game at seven, while DeFontes scored on a penalty shot with 2:48 left in the period to put the Rams ahead, 8-7.
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The seesaw affair had a frantic finish with the score tied at 10 with under a minute left in the fourth. Washington & Jefferson scored with 40 seconds left to take the lead, but Fordham responded with a Vandeventer goal with just eight seconds left to force overtime.
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In the first three minutes of overtime, Fordham netted the only goal, as Simmons scored his fifth goal of the game with 42 seconds left. The Rams would hold Washington & Jefferson scoreless over the final three minutes of overtime to post the 12-11 win.
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Besides Simmons' five-goal effort, DeFontes, Vandeventer, and
Eric Minowitz each had two goals, while
Patrick Lenihan had the final tally. DeFontes also added four steals in the match with Vandeventer having three. In net, Le Beau finished with 14 saves.
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The Fordham water polo team (11-12) will next be in action on Wednesday, October 29
th, when the Rams play at St. Francis (NY), beginning at 7:30 PM.
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