BRONX, N.Y. — The No. 16-ranked Fordham University water polo team wrapped up its regular season schedule with a split of the Rams’ final Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-East Region matches. Fordham fell to No. 15 Bucknell University, 9-6, before bouncing back with an 11-10 win over La Salle University.
With the split, Fordham is now 23-6 on the year, 9-3 in the MAWPC-East as the Rams claim the No. 2 position in the league standings via a tiebreaker against George Washington University.
In the opening match, Bucknell avenged an earlier loss to Fordham with a 9-6 win.
Bucknell jetted out to a 5-1 lead into the second quarter and led by as many as five goals at 9-4 in the fourth quarter. The Rams tacked on a pair of goals to close within three at 9-6, but could not get any closer.
For Fordham, Dimitris Koukias netted a pair of markers, while Jake Miller-Tolt, Tristen Knoflick, George Maltby and Sebastian Zapatero each had one. Miller-Tolt also added three assists, two steals, and four blocks with Knoflick having four steals. In net, Bailey O’Mara had 10 saves and two steals.
In match two, Fordham honored its six seniors with a win in an 11-10 victory over La Salle.
Though the senior class garnered the early headlines, it was Fordham’s sophomore duo of Koukias and O’Mara that stole the show. Koukias netted a team-high four goals while O’Mara made 16 saves to go with three steals and an assist. O’Mara now has 328 saves on the year setting a new program record for a single season. Noah LeBeau held the previous record at 311 in 2014. Other goal scorers for Fordham included Miller-Tolt, Knoflick, Phillip Wang (two), August Weyandt, Zapatero, and Quinn Wagner.
Release courtesy Fordham University Athletics Communications
