Water Polo Nets Hat Trick of Home Victories Over Two Days

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Momentum certainly carried over from Fordham Water Polo's thrilling 12-11 sudden death overtime victory at Iona on Wednesday as the Rams swept three home contests this weekend at the Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center to string together their largest winning streak of the season, four, and improve to 14-10 (4-4 CWPA) on the season. Fordham compiled victories over Southern Division foes Salem International and Mercyhurst, plus a win over Northern Division rival George Washington.
 
"This was a good weekend for us, and I include the win at Iona midweek in there, too," Assistant Head Coach Brian Bacharach said on Saturday evening, "We came in with a chip on our shoulder, after tough losses to Iona and at St. Francis Brooklyn, and we took care of business at Iona, and that momentum rolled into the weekend.
 
These were good, quality wins, with contributions from all over the roster. We didn't know who was going to step up and be our scorer from game to game, which means the offense is working well. The defense was also great this weekend. When you're giving up less than 10 goals per game, you're giving yourself a very good chance to win each time." Bacharach said.
 
In the lone contest on Friday night, Fordham defeated Salem International (2-10, 1-4 CWPA), 16-9, behind a career-high five goals from sophomore Ethan Vandeventer. The Los Angeles native also assisted to garner a career-best six points, as well.
 
The Rams jumped out to a two-goal lead after 180 seconds but the Tigers answered through a penalty goal and an exclusion goal over the next three minutes. With the game poised to head into the second period tied at two, Fordham quickly put together two scoring plays, one for Vandeventer on a beautiful cross-pool pass from senior Bobby Wurtz with one second left in the frame and the other from R.J. Simmons.
 
Fordham wouldn't relinquish its lead but the Tigers drew close on a couple occasions, including cutting the deficit to three early in the final period, which prompted head coach Bill Harris to put some of his starters back in until the lead had grown more comfortable again.
 
"That was a good win against good opposition. We were able to get our entire team into the game, as well." Head Coach Bill Harris said Friday night.
 
Fordham and division rivals George Washington (3-19, 0-7 CWPA) was the second game on tap on Saturday morning at the Messmore Center, with the Rams pulling out a hard-fought 12-10 victory behind 10 different scorers.
 
The two schools traded exclusion goals to start the match and Vandeventer stole the ball, swam ahead, and netted his first of the game and sixth of the weekend to give his team a brief lead at the end of one. George Washington sandwiched three exclusion goals around Fordham's one in the second frame to make it a tie 4-4 game heading into the halftime break. A George Washington exclusion goal, the seventh of the game to that point, gave the Colonials a lead they'd hold until the 3:47 mark of the third period when Diego Delgado netted his lone score of the game. George Washington took the lead yet again but two Fordham goals in the final minute of the period, one from Simmons on his fifth shot of the contest and one from Vandeventer with three seconds left after opposing goalkeeper Matt Taylor gifted him with possession.
 
The Rams, holding a slim 8-7 lead, would never let their opponents take the lead but would allow an equalizer to start the fourth period.
 
Goals from Andrew Gonzalez while up a man, Simmons, and Patrick Reyes gave the Rams a two-goal cushion and, although the visitors cut it to one with 17 seconds later and with 90 seconds to go, the Fordham defense, especially sophomore keeper Alex Jahns, stood tall and held its opponents out of the net. Freshman Magnus Sims was called for a penalty with 33 seconds left that allowed the Colonials a late chance at forcing overtime but Jahns guessed correctly and kept his team in front, much to the joy of his teammates and those in attendance.
 
Prior to that, George Washington had three successive possessions that all resulted in shots on target and big saves. Jahns didn't record a save in the first period but tallied eight in the final three. Senior Patrick Lenihan's open-net goal in the dying seconds provided the final score.
 
"George Washington is a good team, a well-coached team, but we kept our composure out there and Alex made a huge penalty save and we closed the game out correctly with everyone working hard. It was a good win." Harris said.
 
There was a four-plus hour wait in between matches but Fordham and Mercyhurst's (10-5, 5-0 CWPA) encounter in the afternoon provided more entertainment for those on hand. The Rams pulled out a 10-6 victory over the 2015 Division II Champions thanks to continued stellar defense and a balance attack, led by freshman Delgado's three scores, the first time he has netted a hat trick since the last time these two schools played, at the Navy Open, back in mid-September.
 
Delgado was on the receiving end of two great passes from Gonzalez to net his first two and give the Rams a 2-0 lead over the first three minutes. Mercyhurst buckled down and finished the period on a 3-0 run to take the lead but Sims sparked the team's own 3-0 sprint to close out the half. Freshman Ryan Guso's late score capped off a terrific weekend for the Rams.
 
Jahns added 10 more saves in the final game in an impressive performance against a solid Mercyhurst attack and continues to add to his double-digit save outings this season, now with seven this year.
 
The Rams are back in action on Tuesday night when they host nationally-ranked St. Francis Brooklyn in the final contest at the Messmore Aquatic Center this season. Before the match, 10 seniors will be honored. The match will be streamed live on the A-10 Digital Network.