Bronx, N.Y. – (September 28, 2022) – The #17 Fordham water polo team will have its home opener on Thursday night at the Messmore Aquatic Center, as the Rams welcome the Wagner Seahawks to Rose Hill for a conference match-up.
Fordham (9-6, 3-0 MAWPC) looks to rebound from a 1-3 weekend at the MPSF Invitational, hosted by Stanford. The Rams played their toughest competition of the season, falling to #5 USC, #13 UC Irvine, and RV Santa Clara, while defeating Pomona Pitzer. Fordham will try to keep their perfect record in league play intact in their second meeting this year with Wagner.
The Rams defeated Wagner, 12-11, back on September 18
th as a part of the Bison Invitational. The Seahawks are 4-8 on the season with an 0-2 league record. Offensively, Wagner is led by Laszlo Strasser with 22 goals and 25 assists, while Oliver Fodor and Mattia Bognolo have 24 and 23 goals, respectively.
GAME COVERAGE
Thursday – 7:30 PM – Wagner vs. Fordham –
Live Video (CWPATV) |
Follow on Twitter at @FordhamPolo
HISTORY: Since Wagner started playing water polo in 2016, Fordham has a 10-4 record against the Seahawks, winning each of the last six meetings.
LAST TIME OUT (9/25): The 16
th-ranked Fordham water polo team wrapped up play at the MPSF Invitational on Sunday, as the Rams defeated Pomona Pitzer, 18-11, though it took a bit longer than expected.
The start of the game was delayed by two hours due to a power outage on Stanford's campus. Once the game started, the Rams (9-6) certainly supplied the power, scoring 11 of the first 12 goals in the match and did not relinquish that lead.
For Fordham,
Christos Loupakis and
Balazs Berenyi each netted a hat trick, while
Luca Silvestri,
Jason Hiremath,
George Papanikolaou,
Lucas Nieto Jasny, and
Nacho Ariste each had two.
Nir Gross and
Jacopo Parrella rounded out the scoring with one goal apiece.
In net,
Thomas Lercari made eight saves in just over three quarters of work, while
Riccardo Di Giuseppe had one save in the remainder of the fourth quarter.
SILVESTRI NAMED MAWPC ROOKIE OF THE WEEK (9/28): The Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) announced its weekly awards on Wednesday with Fordham's
Luca Silvestri (Napoli, Italy) selected as the league's Rookie of the Week.
Silvestri and the Rams took part in the MPSF Invitational this past weekend, hosted at Stanford University, playing against some of the top teams in the country. Silvestri totaled 10 goals over the four matches. He netted a hat trick against #5 USC on Friday, and then Duplicated that hat trick against #13 UC Irvine on Saturday, while posting two goals, a steal, and a block against RV Santa Clara. He finished the weekend with two goals and an assist in a win over Pomona Pitzer.
PICKING UP RIGHT WHERE THEY LEFT OFF: After a successful first year at Fordham, sophomores
George Papanikolaou and
Jacopo Parrella have kept it rolling in year two. Papanikolaou leads the Rams with 37 assists and 62 points, while being second in goals scored with 25. Parrella is Fordham's leading goal scorer with 31 tallies, as well as in steals with 25.
QUICK START: Fordham first-year player
Balazs Berenyi has made an immediate impact with the team. He has already been named MAWPC Rookie of the Week once back on September 6
th. To date, he has 24 goals, 10 assists, and 20 steals, while leading the squad in swim-offs win (22).
WELCOME ABOARD: After appearing the 2022 European Championship for Israel, the Rams were able to welcome newcomer
Nir Gross to the fold in week 2 at the Princeton Invitational. The Second Team All-American from UC Davis has quickly found his role in the offense, netting 19 goals and seven assists in 11 matches.
RAMSES CHALLENGE: As a part of a new fundraising challenge this season, fans can pledge support for the team in the Ramses Challenge for each goal the water polo team scores this season.
Be a part of the challenge by clicking here. For any questions regarding the Ramses Challenge, please reach out to Director of Athletic Development,
Kara Field, at
kfield1@fordham.edu
WHAT'S NEXT: The Rams will next be in action at the MAWPC Crossover on October 8-9, hosted in Morgantown, West Virginia at the Aquatic Center at Mylan Park. Fordham faces McKendree and Salem on Saturday, while taking on Gannon and Mercyhurst on Sunday.
