#15 Water Polo Splits Saturday Matches against JHU & Navy

Box Score 1 Baltimore, Md./Annapolis, Md. – (November 6, 2021) – It was a day of mixed results for the 15^th-ranked Fordham water polo team, as the Rams earned a split of their MAWPC matches on Saturday afternoon.
 
The day started on the wrong foot for Fordham, falling to Johns Hopkins by a 13-12 score.
 
Playing from behind for most of the match, the Rams found themselves with a tie game with four minutes left, following Christos Loupakis' fourth goal of the game, making it an 11-11 score.
 
However, Fordham received exclusions on their next two defensive efforts which results in extra-man goals for Johns Hopkins to take a 13-11 lead.  Hans Zdolsek then scored for Fordham with 2:12 left to pull within one.
 
The Rams then had a prime chance to tie the game in the final seconds with a man-up advantage, but Fordham was called for an offensive foul, which gave possession back to Johns Hopkins and they were able to run out the clock.
 
For Fordham, Loupakis led the attack with a four-goal game, while Lucas Nieto Jasny had two goals, three assists, and five steals, while George Papanikolaou also had two goals.  The remaining goals for the Rams came from Zdolsek, Jason Hiremath, Jacopo Parrella, and Nacho Ariste.  In net, Thomas Lercari finished with six saves and a steal.

 
In the second match of the day, Fordham outlasted Navy by a 10-9 count. 
 
The Rams led wire-to-wire in the game, getting out to a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on two goals by Zdolsek and one by Gabriel Melillo.
 
Navy though did not make it easy on Fordham, cutting the Rams' lead to one on multiple occasions, the last at 10-9 with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter.  However, Lercari and the Fordham defense held up and kept the Midshipmen off the scoreboard to get the win.
 
For Fordham, Zdolsek and Parrella each had two goals and two assists, while Papanikolaou had a goal and two assists.  Other goal scorers were Dimitris Koukias, Loupakis, Ariste, Melillo, and Sebastian Zapatero.  In net, Lercari totaled 13 saves in the contest.
 
Fordham will wrap their weekend with an MAWPC match at George Washington, starting at 3:00 PM.