The Fordham Water Polo team dropped another tough CWPA contest, this time at #18 St. Francis Brooklyn on Wednesday night, 10-9, as the Terriers broke a late deadlock with a deflected goal inside of the final two minutes. With the loss, the Rams fall to 10-10 (2-4 CWPA) on the season, while the Terriers improve to 8-4 (5-0 CWPA) overall.
"This was a well-played game against one of the better teams in our conference," Head Coach
Bill Harris said. "Our team played with intensity and emotion on the road against a talented team. It was good to see scoring from six different players along with good efficiency (5-for-10) in extra-man situations. We need those kinds of numbers as we close in on our conference finals."
Those six different scorers were
Bobby Wurtz,
Andrew Gonzalez (3),
Patrick Reyes,
Cameron Shewchuck,
R.J. Simmons (2), and
Magnus Sims.
The Rams were shut out in the first period, 3-0, with three of St. Francis Brooklyn's European recruits all netting goals. Reyes got Fordham on the board early in the second but the hosts ended the first half with a 3-2 advantage to lead, 7-3, heading into the break.
The time in between halves appears to have galvanized the Rams as they came charging out of the gate. Gonzalez netted a man-up goal within the first 15 seconds of the restart and after a Terrier score, Fordham went on a 5-1 run over the next 11 minutes to tie things up at nine apiece.
The 9-7 score remained the same for the first six minutes of the final period. The Rams defense was stout while a man-down and as soon as the team returned to full strength, Gonzalez netted his second of the evening to cut the deficit to one. One minute later and, with a Terrier getting sent off, Gonzalez found the net again for a crucial equalizer from distance, a shot that seemed to be blocked but trickled in to give Fordham hope.
However, the hosts were rewarded with some luck as well and Bora Dimitrov's late attempt with two minutes remaining looped over sophomore keeper
Alex Jahns after he initially got a hand to it. Fordham had one more man-up chance a minute later but couldn't capitalize.
The goals for Gonzalez extends an impressive stretch for the senior in which he has scored 24 times in the team's last 13 matches – dating back to a clash against George Washington on September 13. Over that same span, Simmons has notched 25 goals, as the two upperclassmen easily pace the Rams in scoring.
Fordham is back in CWPA action at Iona next Wednesday evening in what is sure to be another thrilling encounter between the two programs after last week's 12-11 overtime contest. That match is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
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