ANNAPOLIS, Md. — To quote Major League Baseball Hall of Fame member Reggie Jackson when speaking about the stadium of a baseball team that calls the Bronx home, “It is the house that George built.” Fast forward a few years and the same can be true of the team which brought a championship back to the Bronx as George Papanikolaou (Fr., Athens, Greece/Athens College) posted a hat-trick and goalie Thomas Lercari (Fr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes) stopped nine shots as No. 18-ranked/top seed/Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-East Region regular season champion Fordham University outscored host/No. 20/second seed/MAWPC-East regular season runner-up the United States Naval Academy, 9-6, to claim the program’s inaugural conference championship and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship berth.
Fordham (26-6, 11-1 MAWPC-East) – which fell in 1973 and 1974 to Yale University and Bucknell University, respectively, in the program’s last two conference title game appearances – claims the MAWPC’s automatic berth to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship. The Rams will learn their fate in the tournament during the evening of Sunday, November 21, as the NCAA is slated to announce the championship field on www.NCAA.com.
Navy (16-13, 9-3 MAWPC-East) finishes in Second Place at the MAWPC Championship as the program has now placed first nine times (1986, 1987, 1988, 1990, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008) and nine-times as the conference runner-up (1984, 1991, 1994, 2002, 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011) under Mike Schofield, Navy previously last made a conference championship game in 2011.
Comparatively, Fordham was making the program’s ninth conference championship appearance – since 1987. Previously, the Rams placed Fifth (2009 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Eighth (2010 at Bucknell University), 11th (2013 at Brown University) and Ninth (2014 at Navy; 2015 at MIT) at the Eastern/Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship prior to Third (2016 at Bucknell) and Fourth (2017 at Navy; 2018 at home; 2019 at Bucknell) place marks at the MAWPC Championship.
In a battle of a perennial power versus a longstanding program seeking to stake its claim among the elite, it was the Midshipmen of Navy which appeared primed to return to their former glory in the first quarter.
Hayden Kahn (So., San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) set the Navy faithful into euphoria less than two minutes into the game by putting away the icebreaker at 6:11 to push the Mids ahead at 1-0. Papanikolaou balanced the scoreboard at 4:45 with a man-up tally, but Michael Heller (Fr., Menlo Park, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep) torpedoed Fordham’s hopes of escaping the first quarter with a tie or the lead by driving home a shot 16 seconds following Papanikolaou to reacquire the lead for Navy at 2-1.
The game turned on Fordham’s poise and resiliency in the second quarter. Facing a Navy barrage, goalie Thomas Lercari (Fr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes) kept the Midshipmen off the board with three saves in the frame – and forcing multiple shots wide and high of the cage by this presence – to allow the Rams to turn the tables on Navy.
Lucas Nieto Jasny (Fr., Barcelona, Spain/Col-legi Closa) evened the damage at two-all with 3:41 left in the first half prior to Gabriel Melillo (Fr., Lija, Malta/Saint Aloysius) and Jasny drawing the curtain on the second quarter with even-strength (1:28) and man-up (four seconds) scores to being lowering the boom on the Mids by taking a 4-2 lead.
Jake Altmayer (Jr., Pasadena, Calif./Loyola) chipped Navy’s deficit down to one at 4-3 by burying a man-up bid with 6:38 left on the third quarter clock. However, Fordham – which had never made an NCAA Championship appearance prior to claiming the 2021 MAWPC crown – refused to have their title hopes drift out to sea as Papanikolaou fired home natural (5;54) and man-up (3:58) tallies to expand the lead to 6-3.
Merle RIchman (Jr., La Jolla, Calif./The Bishop School) trimmed Navy’s deficit to a pair (6-4) with 3:31 to go, but Hans Zdolsek (Gr., Linkoping, Sweden/Katedralskolan/Whittier College) slammed in a shot at 1:34 to return Fordham’s margin to three at 7-4 heading into the fourth quarter.
Navy attempted to stage a comeback in the opening moments of the fourth quarter as Will Clark (Jr., Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) spun in a shot at 5:22 to once again move the Mids within a pair at 7-5.
However, the Rams refused to be denied their place in history as Jacopo Parrella (Fr., Naples, Italy/Umberto I State Classical) and Curtis Vidinoff (Jr., Clovis, Calif./Clovis North/Fresno Pacific University) wished the Midshipmen fair winds and following seas with markers at the 3:56 and 3:06 marks, respectively, to near certainly guarantee the win with a 9-5 lead and approximately three minutes to play.
Navy refused to return to port without a fight as Isaac Salinas (Sr., Spring City, Pa./Malvern Prep) delivered the final blow at 1:43 to establish the 9-6 final score.
For Fordham, Papanikolaou (three) and Jasny (two) combined for five goals, while Melillo, Vidinoff, Parrella and Zdolsek each tacked on solo markers.
Across the tank, Kahn, Clark, Heller, Richman, Salinas and Altmayer each found the back of the cage once. Goalie Caden Capobianco (So., Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) turned away 12 Rams’ shots in taking the loss.
Following the title game, the All-Tournament awards were announced by George Gross (the goalie for the Yale team which defeated the Rams in their inaugural conference title game in 1973) and presented by fellow CWPA Hall of Fame member/Fordham alum Chris Judge with Zdolsek and Lercari posting Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Tournament accolades. Rams’ head coach Brian Bacharach claimed Coach of the Tournament recognition for his efforts in leading Fordham to the title.
Following the championship, the All-Tournament Team was released:
| 2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship All-Tournament Team | |
| Most Valuable Player: | Hans Zdolsek (Fordam University) |
| Rookie of the Tournament: | Thomas Lercari (Fordham University) |
| Coach of the Tournament: | Brian Bacharach (Fordham University) |
| First Team | |
| Luca Castorina (Goalie) | George Washington University |
| Viktor Jovanovic | George Washington University |
| Hans Zdolsek | Fordham University |
| Jacopo Parrella | Fordham University |
| George Papanikolaou | Fordham University |
| Isaac Salinas | United States Naval Academy |
| Oliver Fodor | Wagner College |
| Second Team | |
| Caden Capobianoco (Goalie) | United States Naval Academy |
| Hasan Mogultay | Bucknell University |
| Lucas Nieto Jasny | Fordham University |
| Vlad Mickic | Gannon University |
| Jayden Kunwar | Johns Hopkins University |
| Jason O’Donnell | Mount St. Mary’s University |
| Vuk Bulajic | Wagner College |
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 18 Fordham University |
1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | – | 9 |
| No. 20 United States Naval Academy | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | – | 6 |
| Navy Goals: | Hayden Kahn; Will Clark; Michael Heller; Merle Richman; Isaac Salinas; Jake Altmayer | |||||
| Fordham Goals: | George Papanikolaou (3); Luca Nieto Jasny (2); Gabriel Melillo; Curtis Vidinoff; Jacopo Parrella; Hans Zdolsek | |||||
| Saves: | Navy – Caden Capobianco (12) ; Fordham – Thomas Lercari (9) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Navy – 5 ; Fordham – 7 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Navy – 1-for-7 ; Fordham – 3-for-5 | |||||
| Sprints: | Navy – 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th) ; Fordham – 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Alex Stankevitch; Igor Mernenko | |||||
2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Champion – Fordham University
Fordham University fans came prepared for the Rams’ victory
Fordham University men’s water polo cheers following reception of the 2021 MAWPC Championship plaque
Fordham University Head Coach Brian Bacharach & Associate Head Coach Bill Harris embrace as the clock runs out on the 2021 MAWPC Championship title game
Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame member/Fordham Universitiy alum Chris Judge presents the championship plaque to Fordham’s Hans Zdolsek
Collegiate Water Polo Association Hall of Fame member/Fordham Universitiy alum Chris Judge congraulates Fordham’s Hans Zdolsek & Bailey O’Mara
2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship Most Valuable Player: Fordham University’s
Hans Zdolsek
Fordham University’s Bailey O’Mara & Hans Zdolsek
Fordham University alum/Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame member Chris Judge presents the Championship plaque to Bailey O’Mara & Hans Zdolsek of his alma mater
Fordham University alum/Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Hall of Fame member Chris Judge presents the Dick Russell Coach of the Tournament plaque to Brian Bacharach of his alma mater
2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship Rookie of the Tournament: Fordham University’s Thomas Lercari
2021 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Champion: Fordham University
