By Tom Terzulli
Fordham Water Polo had a tough week, but a second straight victory against Navy provided some consolation. (Owen Corrigan/The Fordham Ram)
After circuiting the Beltway area to the tune of a 2-1 record last weekend, Fordham Water Polo returned to the Francis B. Messmore Aquatics Center for four games in the Bronx.
Play began Saturday with a familiar game against a familiar foe. The Rams faced off with the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays for the second weekend in a row, in what would become Fordham’s second straight overtime contest. Fresh off their dramatic and historic victory over Navy last weekend, it was the same story all over again.
A timely fourth quarter goal from freshman Jake Miller-Tolt tied the game at nine with just 32 ticks left on the clock, to force the extra frame. Sophomore Diego Delgado and junior Grant Keesling then put Fordham ahead 11-9 to begin the period. However, a couple of exclusion penalties cost the Rams, when the Blue Jays capitalized on the man up advantage to tie it with three minutes remaining. A little less than a minute later, Finn Banks gave Hopkins a 12-11 advantage that they would never relinquish.
Miller-Tolt continued a stellar freshman campaign with four goals, four steals and an assist. Senior R.J. Simmons and sophomore Ian Watson joined him in the scoring column, each finding the back of the net twice.
The 10th-ranked Bucknell Bison were next. It was tough task for the Rams, but they pulled through, succumbing to a 14-11 defeat. After falling behind by three scores in the first, Fordham played even with the Bison for the next three, even taking an 8-7 lead late in the third on the back of extra man goals from Delgado and sophomore Magnus Sims. However, the Bisons’ Rade Joksimovic scored four times in the final 10 minutes to give his team the victory.
Another Fordham freshman led the way in this game — Tristen Knoflick had five tallies. Meanwhile, Miller-Tolt filled up the scorecard once again with two goals, four steals and an assist. The scoring was rounded out by the usual suspects: Sims (two goals, two assists and three steals) and Simmons (one goal and one assist).
Another tough opponent waited the next morning: No. 17 George Washington. This matchup, however, did not go nearly as well, resulting in a 15-5 blowout loss. After trailing innocently enough by two goals at 6-4 after a Sims score, the Colonials absolutely dominated the offensive game. They went on a 9-1 run to end the game, securing the victory.
There were no multi-goal scorers in this one. Sims, Delgado, Miller-Tolt, Simmons and Watson combined for the five tallies.
The downtrodden 0-3 Rams got just the lift they needed in the final game. After losing to the Navy Midshipmen in every showdown between the two teams since 1981, Fordham beat them for the second game in a row last weekend. No overtime was necessary this time, as the Rams cruised to a 13-9 victory and their first and only triumph of the weekend.
The score was tied at three midway through the second before the Rams scored three out of the next four goals — two from Delgado and one from Miller-Tolt. The lead swelled to four and stayed that way to end regulation.
Delagado capped off a stellar weekend with a three goal, one assist performance. Simmons had the same stat line and Miller-Tolt put in two goals, two assists, and three steals.
Now sitting at 6-8 overall with a 3-4 conference record, the Rams have a very busy week and weekend ahead of them. On Thursday, they travel across the country to California for matches with La Verne at 3 p.m. and Cal Tech at 8 p.m. They will then play four matches in the Gary Troyer Tournament over the weekend.
