STANFORD, Calif. — Behind hat-tricks from Luca Provenziani (So., Rome, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Statale Isaaco Newton) and Andras Toth (So. Pecs, Hungary/PTE Babits Gyakorlo Gimnazium), the fourth-seeded/No. 5-ranked/Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Fordham University Rams defeated the No. 6/West Coast Conference Champion San Jose State University Spartans, 13-9, in the quarterfinals of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Water Polo Championship held at Stanford University’s Avery Aquatic Center.
The win advances Fordham (26-3) into the national semifinals for the second consecutive season as the Rams will face No. 1/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Champion/No. 1 seed/No. 1 the University of Southern California at 5:00 p.m. Eastern/2:00 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, December 6 with a berth in the NCAA Championship title game on Sunday, December 7, at 6:00 p.m. Eastern/3:00 p.m. Pacific on the line. Live streaming coverage of the game is available on NCAA.com by CLICKING HERE.
MPSF runner-up/No. 2 the University of California-Los Angeles and No. 3 Stanford University will meet in the other semifinal at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. Pacific.
The game will mark the first meeting between the Rams and Trojans since an epic 18-16 overtime semifinal victory by USC on Saturday, December 7, during the 2024 NCAA Championship at Stanford to end Fordham’s campaign at 32-1 last year.
San Jose State (14-8) – which previously dropped a 10-9 game to Fordham on October 26 during regular season action – sees its season terminated as the Spartans finish in a tie with No. 12 Princeton University (15-11 L vs. UCLA), Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Champion Concordia University-Irvine (16-6 L vs. USC) and No. 7/Big West Conference Champion the University of California-Davis (15-9 L vs. Stanford) for Fifth Place in the eight-team NCAA Championship field.
In a rematch of their regular season meeting the Spartans in San Jose, Fordham opened the scoring with an extra-man goal by Luca Silvestri (Gr., Napoli, Italy/Istituto Comprensivo Sacro Cuore (Westcliff University)) at the 6:24 mark of the first quarter, but the Spartans responded with three straight markers at 5:59 (Samu Biros) and Sam Keightley (5:12, 2:00) for a 3-1 lead with 2:00 minutes left in the first quarter.
The Rams answered with a late flurry, scoring three times before the end of the quarter with Gianni Farrugia (Gr., Iklin, Malta/St. Martin’s (Univeristy of Malta)) netting goals at 1:11 and 54 seconds before Marco Napolitano (Gr., Naples, Italy/Istituto Sacro Cuore) scoring with four seconds left to stake Fordham to a 4-3 margin after eight minutes of action.
The second quarter belonged to Provenziani, as he netted all three Fordham goals at 5:23, 1:26 and 27 seconds to extend the lead to 7-4 entering halftime. Giancarlo Marquez accounted for the Spartans’ strike in the second quarter as he found the twine with 3:23 left in the frame to prevent the Rams from pulling away further.
The teams played even in the third quarter with each squad picking up four tallies as Toth (7:23; 4:20), Provenziani (1:26) and Balazs Berenyi (Sr., Budapest, Hungary/BME Secondary Grammar School) (24 seconds) inflicted damage for the Rams, while Erik Duesund (5:26), Keightley (3:36) Biros (1:51) and Mateja Bosic (54 seconds) answered for the Spartans.
Playing two men-down to start the fourth quarter, the Rams killed off the six-on-four deficit to begin the final eight minutes and keep the momentum in their favor with an 11-8 lead.
Maro Tiozzo trimmed San Jose State’s deficit down to a pair at 11-9 with 6:49 to go in the game but the duo of Alessandro Salipante (Fr., Brindisi, Italy/Liceo Scientifico Fermi Monticelli) and Toth speared any hopes of a Spartans’ comeback by swishing shots at 2:15 and 1:18, respectively to help secure a 13-9 victory and another shot at the Trojans with a spot in the National Championship game at stake.
Provenziani led the Rams with four goals, three assists, and three steals, while Toth netted three goals, two assists, two steals, and three blocks. Farrugia had two goals with Silvestri having a goal, two assists and two steals. Salipante added a goal and three assists, while Berenyi and Napolitano had the remaining tallies.
In net, Matthew Bonello DuPuis made six saves to go with an assist in the win as the Rams are guaranteed to finish no lower than Third Place at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship for the second time in as many years.
Fordham’s back-to-back guaranteed Third Place finishes mark the first time a team from outside California will finish Third or higher at the NCAA Championship in consecutive seasons. The Rams will join Queens College (1997, 2002) and Princeton (2009, 2011) in claiming pairs of Third Place finishes with a loss to USC, while the University of Massachusetts (1999), the United States Naval Academy (2007), St. Francis College Brooklyn (2012), Harvard University (2016) and Fordham (2024) currently hold solo Third Place finishes at the event as a team from outside California has never appeared in the National Championship game. Prior to the 2017 championship when the semifinal fallen were considered tied for Third Place, the NCAA Championship played a Third Place game to determine the final order of finish.
Information courtesy Fordham University Athletics Communications
