PALO ALTO, Calif. – The magical season of the No. 1-ranked/No. 3 seed/four-time Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Fordham University water polo just missed getting to the final chapter and finishing the story at the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Water Polo National Championship as the Rams fell to No. 1/No. 2 seed/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Champion the University of Southern California by an 18-16 score in overtime at the Avery Aquatics Center in Palo Alto, California.
2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 MAWPC Champion Fordham, which suffers its first defeat of the season to conclude the year at 32-1, got off to the start it wanted by netting the first two goals of the game on a penalty shot by Lucas Nieto Jasny (7:37) and an even strength goal by Luca Provenziani (6:09). 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 quarter leading to the game exclusion of both Balazs Berenyi and Gabriel Melillo to provide USC an advantage for the remainder of the contest. The Trojans scored four times in the frame 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-all with 1:08 remaining in the eight minute stretch. The Trojans though got the final goal of the quarter with four seconds left to acquire a 12-11 lead through 24 minutes of competition.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Rams knotted the game again at 12-all with a goal by George Papanikolaou before another player from USC received a misconduct, bringing the total to five players sent to the showers before the final horn. 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.
However, USC tied the game at the 4:06 mark and then took a 14-13 lead with 2:30 left. Parrella then answered the bell again, scoring his fifth goal of the contest at the 1:12 mark to knot the match at 14-all. Each team then had two chances to retake 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 netted a score with 43 seconds remaining in the first OT session to inch 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 and five assists with Papanikolaou having two goals and two assists. Berenyi, Luca Silvestri, Thorson and Toth also dented the twine with solo markers.
In net, Thomas Lercari ended the evening with eight saves, two assists and two steals.
The Rams conclude the NCAA Championship with a Third Place finish as Fordham ties with No. 4/No. 4 seed/MPSF Third Place finisher Stanford – which dropped a 17-14 game to UCLA in the earlier semifinal.
Historically, it marks the 10th time a Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA)/Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)/Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) institution has earned Third Place at the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship joining the University of Massachusetts (1999), Princeton (2009, 2011, 2016), Queens College (1997, 2002), the United States Naval Academy (2007), St. Francis College Brooklyn (2012) and Harvard University (2016). Since the elimination of the NCAA Championship Third Place game prior to the start of the 2016 season, both non-advancing semifinal teams have been credited with Third Place. An East Coast team has never played in the National Championship game.
For USC, which raises its record to 23-5 on the year, Andrej Grgurevic (five), Robert López Duart (four), Max Miller (three), Jack Martin (three) Carson Kranz (two) and Zach Bettino combined for the Trojans’ 18 goals in support of a 17-save effort by netminder Bernardo Herzer.
The win advances USC to the National Championship game for the 18th time in 20 appearances at the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship and secured head coach Marko Pintaric’s 100th career victory at the helm of the Trojans men’s program.
A 10-time National Champion, USC will aim to capture the program’s 11th crown in men’s water polo against No. 1/No. 1 seed/MPSF runner-up UCLA at 3:00 p.m. Pacific/6:00 p.m. Eastern at the Avery Aquatic Center on Sunday, December 8, The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
