Bridgeport, Pa. – (November 20, 2024) – The Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) released its end of year major awards and All-Conference teams on Wednesday with Fordham being well represented.
 
The major awards were given to Fordham senior goalkeeper Thomas Lercari (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) as the league's Most Valuable Player, while freshman Luca Provenziani (Rome, Italy) took home the Rookie of the Year award.  Additionally, head coach Brian Bacharach was selected as the MAWPC Coach of the Year for the fourth consecutive year.
 
For the All-Conference team, Lercari, Provenziani, senior George Papanikolaou (Athens, Greece), and freshman Andras Toth (Pecs, Hungary) were all First Team selections, while Lucas Nieto Jasny (Barcelona, Spain) earned Second Team honors.
 
Lercari is the fourth straight Ram to win the MAWPC's Most Valuable Player Award, joining Papanikolaou (2023), Nir Gross (2022), and Hans Zdolsek (2021).
 
Lercari has led the Fordham defense this season, making 220 saves to go with 26 assists, 26 steals, and 10 penalty blocks.  He has a career-best 8.73 goals against average to go with a 57% save percentage.  As a team, the Rams are allowing less than ten goals per contest.  A three-time MAWPC Defensive Player of the Week and a player on the USA Water Polo Cutino Award Watch List, Lercari reached a career milestone earlier this season, surpassing 800 career saves, becoming only the third Ram goalkeeper to reach that mark.
 
Provenziani is Fordham's first Rookie of the Year winner since Papanikolaou in 2021.  A two-time MAWPC Player of the Week and three-time Rookie of the Week, he is the Rams' leader in goals (77) and points (129), while being second in assists (52), exclusions drawn (39), and extra-man goals (15).  Provenziani also added 25 steals, which is tied for fifth on the team, and netted at least one goal in 27 of 28 matches.
 
Papanikolaou is the first Ram to be named First Team All-MAWPC all four seasons, and the second to earn All-Conference honors in each season, joining Jake Miller-Tolt (Second Team – 2016; First Team – 2017-19).  Named to the USA Water Polo Cutino Award Watch List for the second straight year, he reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth consecutive season after netting 42 goals and 59 assists to go with 30 steals and 10 blocks.  Earlier this season, he became the Rams' modern day leader in career assists (268), while standing second on the career goals (236), points (504), steals (199) and blocks (54) lists behind only Miller-Tolt.
 
Like his freshman teammate Provenziani, Toth has fit in perfectly with the Rams, earning MAWPC Rookie of the Week honors twice this season.  He has registered 72 goals and 101 points, good for second on the team in both categories, while being the team leader in steals (41), swimoff wins (67), and extra-man goals (16).  Toth was also a model of consistency, netting at least one goal in 27 of the Rams' 28 games.
 
Nieto Jasny earned his spot on the MAWPC All-Conference Second Team after reaching the 50-goal mark for the fourth consecutive season.  Previously an Honorable Mention pick as a sophomore, Nieto Jasny is fourth on the team in scoring with 85 points on 53 goals and 32 assists.  He also has 22 steals and nine blocks on the defensive end this season.  Like Papanikolaou, he is also among the Rams' modern day career leaders, sitting third in career goals (233), assists (198), and points (431).
 
Bacharach picked up his fourth consecutive MAWPC Coach of the Year award and fifth overall after leading Fordham to an undefeated regular season at 28-0 and the top seed at this week's MAWPC Championship with a 14-0 conference mark.  The Rams are the lone unbeaten team in NCAA Water Polo and have ranked as high as #2 in the country in the polls with a current standing at #3.
 
Fordham begins play at the 2024 MAWPC Championship on Friday, November 22^nd against Mercyhurst at 3:00 PM.  The entire championship will be held November 22-24 at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
 
The three-day, 12-game championship will be streamed live on Game On Live Studio at a cost of $25 for a weekend tournament pass.
 
For fans attending the MAWPC Championship, ticket prices are $25 for a three-day tournament pass or $10 for a one-day pass. Navy students, faculty and staff with a valid college ID, and senior citizens 65 and older, will be admitted at discounted prices of $10 (tournament pass) and $5 (one-day pass). All children 12 and under are free of charge. All tickets are exclusively available at the door as there will be no presale in advance of the championship.
 

2024 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference End of Year Awards
Most Valuable Player:	Thomas Lercari (Fordham University)
Rookie of the Year:	Luca Provenziani (Fordham University)
Coach of the Year:	Brian Bacharach (Fordham University)
First Team All-Conference
Thomas Lercari (Goalie)	Fordham University
Luca Provenziani	Fordham University
George Papanikolaou	Fordham University
Andras Toth	Fordham University
Matt Ryckman	Bucknell University
Adonis Vlassis	George Washington University
Kiefer Black	United States Naval Academy
Second Team All-Conference
Luca Castorina (Goalie)	George Washington University
Andrija Sekulic	George Washington University
Kyle Chambers	Wagner College
Smith Connors	Wagner College
Aleksa Stefanovic	Bucknell University
Lucas Nieto Jasny	Fordham University
Alexandros Belesis	Mount St. Mary's University
Orion Erwin	United States Naval Academy
Honorable Mention
David Dumitru (Goalie)	Bucknell University
Antonio Florena	George Washington University
Phillip Long	Johns Hopkins University
Asher Jones	Mercyhurst University
Aaron Tarr	Mount St. Mary's University
Michael Heller	United States Naval Academy
Patrick Ray	Wagner College