Bronx, N.Y. – (August 28, 2026) – The 2026 Fordham water polo season gets underway this weekend at the Bruno Classic, hosted by Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
The five-time defending MAWPC champions and national semifinalist in each of the last two seasons, the Rams were ranked fifth in the preseason CWPA/NCAA National Poll, and have some sturdy tests on opening weekend. Fordham will begin with matches against #11 Pacific (11:20 AM) and Gannon (3:20 PM) on Saturday, followed by showdowns with #6 UC Davis (11:40 AM) and Iona (5:00 PM) on Sunday.
SERIES HISTORIES
- Fordham has faired well at the Bruno Classic recently, going 7-0 over the past two seasons.
- The Rams are 2-2-1 all-time against Pacific, having won each of the last two meetings in 2024 and 2025.
- Fordham is a perfect 13-0 against Gannon since 2001 with the last meet a 21-9 win in 2023.
- The Rams have only played UC Davis once in 1986, a 14-11 loss to the then #15 Aggies.
- Long time rivals, Fordham and Iona, have meet consistently since 1983 with the Rams winning each of the last 11 contests and 14 of the last 15, dating back to 2015.
NEWS & NOTES
- The Rams are led by head coach Brian Bacharach, who has built the Rams into a national championship contender, collecting a 159-36 record since 2019, winning five MAWPC Championships, and making the national championship semifinals the last two years.
- Fordham returns its All-American duo of Andras Toth and Luca Provenziani for 2026.The junior duo has made an impact from day one at Rose Hill, as both have earned First Team All-American honors and set multiple single season records already. Toth scored a school record 134 goals in 2025 and was First Team All-American and the MAWPC Most Valuable Player, while Provenziani set the single season mark for assists with 103 in 2025 and was a Second Team All-American after earning First Team honors as a freshman.
- The Rams have set a new bar becoming a "United Nations" team as the team has representatives from 10 countries – Hungary, Serbia, Malta, Germany, South Africa, Italy, Croatia, Ukraine, Canada, and the United States.
- Fordham had six players represent their country at the 2026 U20 European Championship in mid-August with Karlo Dragosevic capturing gold with Croatia and Diego Tresa and Alessandro Salipante taking bronze with Italy. Viktor Savic and Vuk Kojic (Serbia) and Andras Toth (Hungary) were the other three Rams competing.
- In addition to a wealth of new, young talent, the Rams also added graduate transfer Laszlo Strasser from Wagner College, where he was a First Team All-MAWPC performer and ACWPC Honorable Mention All-American.
WHO'S NEXT
- Following this week, the Rams open up their home schedule with matches against nationally ranked opponents, Pepperdine (Sept. 11) and San Jose State (Sept. 13) at the Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center.
