Stockton, Calif. – (October 18, 2023) – The nationally ranked Fordham water polo team did everything possible to get an opening win to their west coast road trip at #15 Pacific on Wednesday night. However, the Tigers scored a man-up goal with 39 seconds left in the fourth quarter for their first lead of the game and held on for a 12-10 decision at the Eberhardt Aquatics Center in Stockton, California.
The loss snapped Fordham's 10-game win streak, falling to 14-4 on the season, while Pacific improved to 10-6 on the year.
Fordham opened the scoring in the first quarter with
George Papanikolaou netting the first two goals of the game and a 2-0 lead. After a goal by Pacific,
Jacopo Parrella and
Luca Silvestri followed with goals for Fordham, as the Rams closed out the quarter with a 4-1 lead.
Barnabas Eppel registered two goals early in the second quarter to increase the lead to 6-2, but the Tigers finished the quarter with three tallies, leaving the score at 6-5 in favor of the Rams.
Each team scored twice in the third quarter to put the score at 8-7, heading to the final period.
Christos Loupakis had both of those goals for Fordham.
In the fourth, Silvestri netted a man-up goal to put Fordham back up by two at 9-7. The Tigers found their way back, tying the game at nine with 3:04 left on the clock. Parrella then put Fordham back on top, 10-9, with an amazing goal, where he shot the ball just inside the right post, while his head was under water.
Pacific then tied the game at ten and eventually took an 11-10 lead with 39 seconds left, as Rene Peralta scored both of those markers. With the goalie pulled, the Rams just missed getting the game-tying marker with seven seconds left, as
Balazs Berenyi's shot went off the post and out of play. The Tigers would pick up an empty net goal as time expired for the 12-10 final.
In net, Fordham's
Thomas Lercari made nine saves in the contest.
The Rams have game two of their west coast trip on Thursday, October 19
th, as they take on #2 Cal, beginning at 5:00 PM.
