Cambridge, Mass. – (September 3, 2022) – The Fordham water polo team opened its 2022 season on Saturday, earning a split on day one of the Bruno Classic, hosted at Harvard University.
Fordham opened the day with a loss in a battle of two top 20 teams, falling to #16 Harvard, 15-9.
The Rams opened with a 2-1 lead in the first quarter on the strength of goals by
George Papanikolaou and
Balazs Berenyi.
However, things then went array as Harvard netted six straight goals to take a 7-2 lead with 1:47 left in the second quarter. Fordham would be within four at 8-4 by halftime after goals from
Curtis Vidinoff and
Lucas Nieto Jasny.
The Crimson increased their lead to as many as six goals in the second half, winning by a 15-9 margin.
For Fordham, Jasny netted three goals and three assists to lead the attack, while Berenyi and Papanikolaou each had a pair of markers. Vidinoff and
Christos Loupakis rounded out the goal scorers for the Rams, while in net,
Thomas Lercari had seven saves over three quarters of play.
In game two on Saturday, the Rams bounced back with a 14-7 win over MIT.
Leading 3-2 after the first quarter, Fordham exploded for six goals in the second to take a 9-2 advantage. Six different players netted a goal in the period for Fordham, including Loupakis, Papanikolaou, Jasny, Berenyi,
Jacopo Parrella, and
Daniel Lynch.
The Rams expanded the lead to as many as ten goals, eventually taking home a seven-goal win.
Offensively, Papanikolaou had three goals, two assists, and two steals, while Parrella tallied three goals and two steals. Loupakis and Berenyi each notched two goals with the remaining goals coming from Jasny,
Nacho Ariste,
Gabriel Melillo, and Lynch. In net, Lercari and Riccardo Di Guiseppe each played two quarters with Lercari having nine saves and three assists and DiGuiseppe adding three saves.
Fordham wraps up play at the Bruno Classic on Sunday at Brown University, where the Rams meet Gannon at 9:30 AM and #5 Pacific at 1:15 PM.
