Annapolis, Md. – (September 1, 2018) – The Fordham water polo team kicked off its 2018 campaign on Saturday with a pair of games at the Navy Labor Day Open in Annapolis, Maryland. The Rams opened the day with a 10-8 win over Salem International, but fell in the nightcap 9-8 to Johns Hopkins.
In game one, Fordham's
Jake Miller-Tolt was an offensive dynamo, netting a game-high seven goals to lead Fordham to a 10-8 win over Salem International.
The Rams opened up a big lead from the get go, tallying five times for a 5-1 lead. Miller-Tolt registered four of the five goals with Dimitri Koukis registering his first goal of the year.
The two teams exchanged goals in the second quarter with Salem International closing the game to a 9-6 score by the end of three.
A seventh and final goal by Miller-Tolt in the fourth quarter though pulled the Rams far enough away for a 10-8 decision.
For Fordham, Miller-Tolt added three steals and three blocks to his seven-goal night, three of which were with the man-advantage, while Philip Wang had a goal and a career-best four assists. Koukis and
George Maltby had the other two goals. In net,
Patrick Coffey made eight saves in the win to go with three steals.
Patrick Coffey made eight saves in both games on Saturday.
In game two, Johns Hopkins broke an eight-all tie with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter to pull out a 9-8 win over the Rams.
JHU led 3-2 after the first quarter and 6-4 at the half before Fordham tied the game at seven with four seconds left on a man-up goal by
Magnus Sims. However, the Bluejays netted a goal at the buzzer to take an 8-7 lead into the final quarter.
Sims would pull Fordham back even with another extra-man goal with 4:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. Johns Hopkins responded with the go-ahead goal with the man advantage with 3:52 to go, and held onto that lead for the 9-8 win.
For Fordham, Miller-Tolt led the way with two goals, three assists, and two steals, while Wang had a two-goal, two-assist game. Sims added a pair of markers with Koukias and
Joseph Agabs rounding out the scoring with a goal apiece. In net, Coffey had eight stops and an assist.
The Rams finish up action at the Navy Labor Day Open on Sunday with matches against Iona and Navy.
