BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Fordham University’s Andras Toth (So., Pecs, Hungary/PTE Babits Gyakorlo Gimnazium), Alessandro Salipante (Fr., Brindisi, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Fermi Monticelli) and Brian Bacharach are lauded with Most Valuable Player, Rookie and Coach of the Year status, respectively, as the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) All-Conference Team is released by the league office based on a vote of the organization’s seven head coaches.
A total of 22 athletes are recognized with seven First Team, seven Second Team and eight Honorable Mention selections accompanying the three major awards.
A 2024 and 2025 All-MAWPC First Team selection, Toth continues a legacy of MVP honors for the 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 MAWPC Champion Rams in following former goalkeeper Thomas Lercari (2024) and field players George Papanikolaou (2023), Nir Gross (2022) and Hans Zdolsek (2021-East Region) in posting the gong
Among the coaching ranks, Bacharach becomes the first head man to earn five consecutive Coach of the Year nods as the 2021 MAWPC-East Region, 2022, 2023, 2024 and now 2025 Coach of the Year earns his sixth overall nod. In 2019, Bacharach shared the MAWPC-East Region honor with then co-head coach and current Associate Head Coach Bill Harris. The award marks the eighth Coach of Year award bestowed on the Bronx institution as Harris also picked up recognition as the 2017 MAWPC-East Region recipient after taking the 2009 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Northern Division accolade.
Salipante keeps the Rookie of the Year award in New York as he follows teammate/2024 Rookie of the Year Luca Provenziani (So., Rome, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Statale Isaaco Newton) in earning the laurel. Overall, Fordham has earned five Rookie of the Year plaques with Papanikolaou(2021 MAWPC), Masimilano Mirachi (2017 MAWPC-East Region) and Ali Arat (2009 CWPA Northern Division) previously claiming recognition.
The First Team is dominated by MAWPC regular season champion Fordham as Toth is joined on the list by teammates Provenziani and goalkeeper Matthew Bonello DuPuis (Gr., Sliema, Malta/St. Martin’s (University of Malta)). It marks Provenziani’s second All-Conference selection as the 2024 Rookie of the Year joined Toth on the 2024 First Team.
The Rams’ trio are joined on the First Team by 2023 and 2024 First Team selection Kiefer Black (Jr., San Diego, Calif./La Jolla) of Navy, 2021 St. Francis Brooklyn Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Second Team/2024 MAWPC First Team honoree Adonis Vlassis (Sr., Athens, Greece/Lycee Franco-Hellenique Eugene DeLacroix Athens) of George Washington University, 2022 and 2023 MAWPC Second Team pick Aleksa Stefanovic (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/”Sportium” Sportska Gimnazija) of Bucknell University and 2022 Rookie of the Year/2022 MAWPC Second Team/2023 MAWPC First Team pick Laszlo Strasser (Sr., Budapest, Hungary/Scheiber Sandor Primary School and College) of Wagner College.
2023 MAWPC First Team honoree Luca Silvestri (Gr., Napoli, Italy/Istituto Comprensivo Sacro Cuore (Westcliff University) of Fordham leads the Second Team with 2024 Honorable Mention selections Antonio Florena (So., Napoli, Italy/Liceo Classico Statale “Umberto I”) of George Washington and Aaron Tarr (Jr., Durban, South Africa/Westville Boys) of Mount St. Mary’s University also earning their second All-Conference nods. Quinn Barlett (So., Newport Beach, Calif./Newport Harbor) and goalkeeper Ryan Munch (So., San Diego, Calif./Valhalla) of Navy, Barnabas Eppel (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Budenz Jozsef Alapitvanyi Gimnazium) of Fordham and Tyler Hedblad (So., Poway, Calif./Poway) of Bucknell round out the remainder of the Second Team.
On the Honorable Mention list, six prior All-Conference selections add to their legacies as 2024 Honorable Mention goalkeeper David Dumitru (Jr., Bucharest, Romania/Jean Monnet Theoretical) of Bucknell, 2023 Second Team pick Aiden Day (Jr., Oceanside, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) and 2024 Second Team honoree Orion Erwin (So., Encinitas, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) of Navy, 2024 Honorable Mention honoree Asher Jones (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) of Mercyhurst University are joined by 2022 and 2024 Second Team recipient Alexandros Belesis (Sr., Athens, Greece/Vouliagmeni Lyceum) of Mount St. Mary’s. George Washington goalkeeper Vasilije Marinkovic (Gr., Kotor, Montenegro/Srednja Pomorska Sikola Kotor) and teammate Andrea Forno (Fr., Rome, Italy/I.I.S. Papareschi) garner their inaugural All-Conference selections to complete the 2025 MAWPC All-Conference Team.
The MAWPC All-Conference team is selected based on nominations and voting by each of the seven league institutions. The top 18 field athletes are recognized along with the three goalkeepers with the highest number of votes. Ties for the final position on either the First, Second or Honorable Mention Teams expands the number of athletes beyond six field athletes and/or a single goalkeeper. Selection of the league’s MVP, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year are completed based on a vote of the seven institutions’ head coaches.
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