Santa Clara, Calif. – (October 20, 2023) – The #16/14 Fordham water polo squad continued its west coast road trip on Friday, as they played the opening contest of the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament, hosted at Santa Clara University. The Rams were primed to earn their first win of the road trip, but the #14/15 San Jose State Spartans scored twice in the final minutes for the 10-8 victory.
With the loss, Fordham is now 14-6, while San Jose State improved to 4-6.
San Jose State opened the game with the first three goals of the contest before
Jacopo Parrella scored for Fordham with just a few seconds left in the period, making it a 3-1 game.
The Spartans increased the lead to 6-3 by halftime, but Fordham rallied in the third quarter, scoring the only three markers of the period to tie the game at six, entering the final frame.
Lucas Nieto Jasny,
Balazs Berenyi, and
Luca Silvestri had the three Fordham goals in the third quarter.
The teams then exchanged goals in the fourth, making it an eight-all game with 5:42 left in the period following Fordham goals by Silvestri and
Christos Loupakis. Both teams had chances to take the lead over the next three minutes with the man-advantage but could not convert.
It wasn't until Erik Duesund scored with 1:35 left for the Spartans, giving San Jose State the 9-8 edge. The Rams then had two opportunities with the man-advantage to try and net the tying marker but could not find the equalizer. San Jose State then added a penalty shot goal for the 10-8 final.
For Fordham, Parrella had two goals, three assists, and two steals, while Silvestri and Bereyi each had a pair of goals.
Thomas Lercari stopped nine shots in net, while also having an assist and a steal.
The Rams have two games at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament on Saturday, October 21
st, as they take on #13 Cal Baptist at 12:20 PM and host #17 Santa Clara at 5:40 PM.
