Palo Alto, Calif. – (December 7, 2024) – The magical season of the Fordham water polo just missed getting to the final chapter and finishing the story, as the third-seeded Rams fell to second-seeded USC, 18-16, in overtime in the NC Championship semifinal on Saturday at the Avery Aquatics Center in Palo Alto, California.
Fordham got off to the start it wanted, netting the first two goals of the game on a penalty shot by
Lucas Nieto Jasny and an even strength goal by
Luca Provenziani. The physicality and intensity then got ratcheted up with plenty of exclusions as well as a couple of misconducts, one of which was to Fordham's
Barnabas Eppel, who missed the rest of the contest. The Rams though would lead after the first quarter, as Nieto Jasny scored twice more along with a penalty shot goal by
Jacopo Parrella for a 5-4 lead.
The physicality continued in the second, as two more Fordham players,
Balazs Berenyi and
Gabriel Melillo were ejected from the contest, giving USC the advantage. The Trojans scored four times in the period to two for the Rams, leaving USC with an 8-7 edge.
USC built the lead to three in the third quarter at 10-7, before back-to-back goals by
Andras Toth and Provenziani got Fordham back within one. After USC scored to make it, 11-9, Parrella came through with two straight goals to tie the game at 11 with 1:08 remaining in the period. The Trojans though got the final goal of the period with four seconds left for a 12-11 lead.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Rams knotted the game again at 12 with a goal by
George Papanikolaou before another player for USC received a misconduct, bringing the total to five players ejected. The Rams then drew an exclusion and scored with the man-up advantage, as Parrella netted his fourth goal of the game for a 13-12 lead with 4:48 left.
USC then tied the game at the 4:06 mark and then took a 14-13 with 2:30 left. Parrella then answered the bell again, scoring his fifth goal of the contest at the 1:12 mark o knot the match at 14. Each team then had two chances to re-take the lead but none came to fruition, forcing the game into overtime.
The Trojans got the better of Fordham in the first three-minute session, scoring three times for a 17-14 lead.
Reid Thorson then scored in the final minute to get the Rams back within two. The teams exchanged goals in the final three minutes, but Fordham could not overcome the deficit, falling by the 18-16 final.
For Fordham, Parrella scored a match-high five goals to go with an assist, while Nieto Jasny had a hat trick and an assist. Provenziani finished with two goals an four assists with Papanikolaou having two goals and two assists. In net,
Thomas Lercari ended up with eight saves, two assists, and two steals.
The loss ends the finest season ever for the Fordham water polo program at 32-1, and marks the farthest a Fordham team has gotten in NCAA Championship, making the national semifinal.
