Berkeley, Calif. – (October 19, 2023) – Facing off against the defending national champion, the Fordham water polo team fell the second-ranked Cal Golden Bears, 18-11, in the second game of the Rams' west coast trip.
With the win, Cal improved to 14-3 on the year, while Fordham moved to 14-5.
Fordham opened with a 1-0 lead at the 5:52 mark, as
Lucas Nieto Jasny found
Luca Silvestri for a goal. The Golden Bears answered with two straight markers before Nieto Jasny tied the game with an extra -man goal with 2:31 left in the first quarter. The teams exchanged man-up goals before Cal regained a 4-3 with 1:16 left. Fordham though knotted the game at four on a last second shot by
George Papanikolaou.
The Rams regained the lead at the start of the second quarter, when Silvestri netted his second marker of the game with the man-advantage. Cal scored the next two markers, but Nieto Jasny once again tied the game at six-all with his second of the game with 1:38 remaining in the half. However, Jordi Gascon scored twice to close out the quarter for Cal, leaving the Golden Bears with an 8-6 edge.
Cal extended its lead to 10-6 in the third quarter before Papanikolaou scored with 3:31 left to pull Fordham back within three. The Golden Bears once again had an answer, netting the next two goals for a 12-7 advantage.
Paul Armingol scored another extra-man goal for Fordham to end the period at 12-8 in favor of Cal.
The Rams did not go away in the fourth, as Silvestri completed his hat trick to get Fordham within three, 12-9. Cal then put the game away with four consecutive goals to go up by seven, 16-9. Papanikolaou and
Berk Oral had the remaining goals for Fordham to close out the 18-11 score.
For Fordham, Silvestri and Papanikoloau each had three goals with Silvestri adding four steals. Nieto Jasny added two goals and four assists with
Thomas Lercari having 12 saves in net.
The Rams now turn their attention to the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament, hosted by Santa Clara. Fordham opens the tournament against #14 San Jose State at 1:00 PM ET (10:00 AM PT).
Gallery: (10-19-2023) Water Polo at #2 Cal
