Parrella Nets Sudden Death Winner to Put Fordham Past Bucknell, 14-13

Bronx, N.Y. – (October 31, 2021) – With today being Halloween, it was certainly a party atmosphere at the Messmore Aquatic Center, as the 17^th-ranked Fordham Rams hosted the Bucknell Bison in a key league match-up.
 
There were plenty of momentum shifts and scary moments, which was capped by Jacopo Parrella scoring his sixth goal of the game and giving Fordham a 14-13 sudden death overtime win over Bucknell.  With the win, Fordham improved to 204 on the season, 8-0 in league play.
 
After falling behind on a penalty shot goal, the Rams answered with three straight goals in the first quarter to grab a 3-1 edge and finish the period up 5-2.
 
Bucknell closed to within two, 7-5, by halftime, and then took control with a five-goal third period to grab a 10-8 lead.
 
The Bison would still have a two-goal lead late in the period, 12-10, with a chance to make it a three-goal lead with a penalty shot with 1:03 left.  However, Bailey O'Mara stopped the penalty shot by Ethan Jones to give the Rams a chance at a late rally.
 
Fordham was then able to draw an exclusion and get an extra-man goal from Parrella to make it a 12-11 score with 47 seconds left.  The Rams then got a defensive stop and got the ball back with 15 seconds remaining.
 
Following a timeout, the Rams would pull the goalkeeper for the extra attacker were rewarded, as Parrella scored on a skip shot inside the left post with five seconds left to tie the game at 12 and force overtime.

 
In the first three-minute session, the Rams went back on top, 13-12, on an extra-man goal by Lucas Nieto Jasny, but Bucknell tied the game on the next possession.  Each team would get extra-man chances in the remaining time but none were converted, forcing the game into a sudden death session overtime.
 
Bucknell got the first possession, but O'Mara came up with a save to give Fordham the advantage.  The teams then exchanged defensive stops with Fordham regaining possession with 1:47 left.  The ball eventually found Parrella on the right side, who fought off cramping as well as a Bucknell defender to net the game-winning goal with 1:22 left in the period.
 
This was Fordham's first sudden death overtime win since 2015 at Iona.
 
For Fordham, Parrella finished with a season-high six goal to go with two assists and three steals, while Nieto Jasny had two goals and two assists.  Jason Hiremath also netted a pair of goals with the remaining markers coming from Hans Zdolsek, Christos Loupakis, George Papanikolaou, and Nacho Ariste.  In net, O'Mara had 14 stops, including a penalty block, to go with one steal.
 
The Rams will next be in action on Friday, November 5^th, when they travel to Mount St. Mary's for a 7:30 PM start.