Story Links Photo Gallery Palo Alto, Calif. – (December 7, 2024) – The extraordinary season of Fordham water polo came close to concluding with a win but ultimately fell short, as the third-seeded Rams were narrowly defeated by the second-seeded USC, 18-16, in a thrilling overtime matchup during the NC Championship semifinal held at the […]
Palo Alto, Calif. – (December 7, 2024) – The extraordinary season of Fordham water polo came close to concluding with a win but ultimately fell short, as the third-seeded Rams were narrowly defeated by the second-seeded USC, 18-16, in a thrilling overtime matchup during the NC Championship semifinal held at the Avery Aquatics Center in Palo Alto, California.
Fordham started strongly, scoring the first two goals of the contest, with a penalty shot by Lucas Nieto Jasny and an even-strength goal from Luca Provenziani. The intensity escalated with several exclusions and a few misconducts, including one to Fordham’s Barnabas Eppel, who missed the remainder of the game. However, the Rams managed to maintain a lead after the first quarter, thanks to two additional goals from Nieto Jasny and a penalty shot by Jacopo Parrella, ending the quarter at 5-4 in their favor.
The aggressive play persisted into the second quarter, leading to the ejection of two more Fordham players, Balazs Berenyi and Gabriel Melillo, putting USC in a stronger position. The Trojans capitalized by scoring four times, compared to just two from the Rams, and took an 8-7 lead into halftime.
USC increased their advantage to three in the third quarter at 10-7, but back-to-back goals by Andras Toth and Provenziani got Fordham closer. Following USC’s score that made it 11-9, Parrella responded with two consecutive goals to equalize the game at 11 with 1:08 remaining in the quarter. Nevertheless, the Trojans managed to regain the lead with a goal just before the period ended, leading 12-11.
As the fourth quarter began, the Rams tied the game again at 12 with a goal from George Papanikolaou, but USC received another misconduct, bringing the ejections to five total. The Rams capitalized on a man-up situation to take a 13-12 lead with Parrella’s fourth goal of the game at 4:48 remaining.
USC tied it at 4:06 and then took a 14-13 lead with 2:30 left. Parrella countered again, scoring his fifth of the game to restore equality at 14 with 1:12 on the clock. Both teams had opportunities to regain the lead, but none were successful, leading to overtime.
In the first three-minute overtime session, the Trojans gained the upper hand, scoring three times to take a 17-14 lead. Reid Thorson got the Rams back within two with a goal in the final minute. The teams exchanged goals in the last three minutes, but Fordham couldn’t close the gap, ending the game at 18-16.
For Fordham, Parrella led all scorers with five goals and added an assist; Nieto Jasny contributed a hat trick along with an assist. Provenziani recorded two goals and four assists, while Papanikolaou added two goals and two assists. In goal, Thomas Lercari made eight saves, along with two assists and two steals.
This defeat concludes the strongest season in the history of the Fordham water polo program at 32-1, marking the furthest advancement for any Fordham team in the NCAA Championship by reaching the national semifinal.
