#5/5 Water Polo Continues West Coast Swing Thursday

Bronx, N.Y. – (October 23, 2024) – After opening their West Coast swing with a win over #16 UCSB, the fifth-ranked Fordham Water Polo team continues their road trip on Thursday at #12/12 San Jose State before heading to Santa Clara for the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament, which features matches against #4/4 Pacific, UC Merced, and Air Force. Additionally, the team will also have a game against West Valley College.
 
Fordham (16-0) enters Thursday's match after a 12-10 win over UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday.  Barnabas Eppel, Luca Provenziani, and Lucas Nieto Jasny each had a hat trick against the Gauchos with Thomas Lercari making nine saves.
 
San Jose State (9-3) are coming off a perfect 4-0 mark at the Harvard Invitational, recording wins over Bucknell, Harvard, Brown, and Navy.
 
On Friday, Fordham will play twice with the feature match being the early game, as the Rams face off with #4/4 Pacific (13-0) at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament.  The Tigers and Rams are the only remaining undefeated teams in the country.  The Rams then take on West Valley College (22-4) later on Friday.
 
On the weekend, it's back to playing in the Julian Fraser Memorial, as Fordham faces UC Merced (2-15) on Saturday and Air Force (11-12) on Sunday.
 
SERIES HISTORY: Here are the series histories against each of the Rams' opponents:

• vs. San Jose St.- Series Tied, 1-1 (Last Meeting: 10/20/23 – SJSU 10, Fordham 8)
• vs. Pacific – Pacific Leads, 2-0-1 (Last Meeting: 10/18/23 – Pacific 12, Fordham 10)
• vs. West Valley College – 1^st ever meeting
• vs. UC Merced – 1^st ever meeting
• vs. Air Force – Series Tied, 1-1 (Last Meeting: 10/5/2008 – Air Force 12, Fordham 4)

 
LERCARI, PAPANIKOLAOU NAMED TO CUTINO AWARD WATCH LIST (10/17): For the third year, USA Water Polo and The Olympic Club are excited to collaborate with the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) on the Cutino Award Watch List. The Peter J. Cutino Award, named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo. Among those listed are Fordham seniors Thomas Lercari (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and George Papanikolaou (Athens, Greece). The watch list was created in 2022 in an effort to help promote the college game, awareness of the honor, and the excellent play of athletes around the country.
 
With Lercari and Papanikolaou's inclusion, it marks the third consecutive year that Fordham has had a player on the initial watch list, joining Nir Gross in 2022 and Papanikolaou last year.
 
A 2023 ACWPC All-American and the reigning MAWPC Most Valuable Player, Papanikolaou is tied for second on the Rams in scoring with 55 points on 26 goals and 29 assists, while being second in steals with 17.  Earlier this season, he reached the 200-goal plateau for his career, becoming one of five players to reach that mark in the last 40 years of Fordham water polo, and surpassed the modern day career assists record.  He is also second in modern day career points (458) and steals (186).
 
Lercari has been a wall in front of the Fordham net, recording 124 saves in just under 45 quarters of work.  He has a career-best 8.68 goals against average and 56% save percentage on the season, while adding 15 assists, 15 steals, and six penalty blocks.  He has already earned MAWPC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice this season, bringing his career weekly award total to nine.  This past week, Lercari passed Alex Jahns (2014-17) on the modern day career saves list at 763, trailing only Timmy Will (800) and Noah LeBeau (996).
 
GETTING OFFENSIVE: Through 16 contests, Fordham has scored 319 goals, averaging 19.9 per contest.  13 individual players are in double figures, led by Luca Provenziani with 39.  Andras Toth is second at 37, followed by Lucas Nieto Jasny (33) and George Papanikolaou (26).  The Rams have also cranked things up with the man-advantage, converting on 56% of their opportunities (81 for 145).
 
GOIN' STREAKIN': After winning their first seven MAWPC matches, Fordham has now won 37 consecutive league contests dating back to late in the 2021 season.  If you include the MAWPC Championship, the Rams have beaten an MAWPC opponent 45 straight times.
 
CAREER MILESTONES: Over the first three weekends, seniors Jacopo Parrella, George Papanikolaou, and Lucas Nieto Jasny reached 200 career goals scored, becoming just the third, fourth, and fifth Fordham water polo players in the last 40 years to reach that mark, joining Rick Sweeney (215 – 1984-87) and Jake Miller-Tolt (351 – 2016-19).  Additionally, Papanikolaou surpassed Miller-Tolt's modern day career assists record of 220, as Papanikolaou now has 238 for his career.
 
GREAT START: The Rams have blasted on to the scene in 2024 with a 16-0 record.  It is the team's best-ever start to a season.
 
WHO'S NEXT: The Rams return to MAWPC play for their next set of matches, facing George Washington (12:00 PM) and Navy (6:00 PM) on the road on Saturday, November 2^nd.