Tournament Central
Annapolis, MD – The Wagner men's water polo team fell to no. 1 seed Fordham, 11-10 in overtime in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) semifinals. Sophomore Zsombor Gyémánt claimed All-MAWPC second team honors as junior Olivér Fodor garnered first-team honors and claimed sole possession of the Wagner men's water polo all-time scorers list with 205 career goals.
In 30 games during the regular season, Olivér Fodor found the back of the net 114 times and drew 49 exclusions. For the Budapest, Hungary native, 114 goals matches a single season record for Wagner men's water polo. This is the second time in the last two seasons Fodor has garnered All-Conference honors, the 2-meter center was selected to the second team in 2019 along with being selected as an honorable mention All-American.
Zsombor Gyémánt garnered All-MAWPC recognition in his first season of competition on Grymes Hill. The sophomore led the Green & White with 30 assists and was second on the tem with 60 goals.
Wagner (10) vs. Fordham (11)
The opening stanza was a back-and-forth affair that found the game deadlocked at three. Freshman
Mattia Bognolo, senior
Vuk Bulajic, and junior
Shaked Yacoby found the back of the net for the Green & White in the opening frame. Both clubs carried their momentum into the second quarter with Wagner outscoring Fordham 4-3 in the frame to take a 7-6 lead into the intermission.
Shaked Yacoby, fifth-year
Jack Leighton,
Vuk Bulajic, and Olivér Fodor scored in the second quarter.
The second half opened at a slow pace with the first goal coming with 2:22 remaining in the quarter when
Vuk Bulajic completed his hat trick to double Wagner's lead. Olivér Fodor found the back of the net 46 seconds later to give the Seahawks a 9-6 advantage, their largest of the contest. The top seeded Rams battled back in the fourth, outscoring the Seahawks 3-1 in the frame to bring the contest to a 10-10 deadlock. The Seahawks controlled their own destiny when they claimed possession with 13 seconds remaining but couldn't capitalize on the opportunity as the two rivals were forced to settle the score in overtime.
The Rams put a stamp on the contest in the second overtime period when recently crowned MAWPC Most Valuable Player Hans Zdolsek fired a shot past senior netminder
Ethan Zirh to give Fordham a 10-11 lead. The Seahawks had one last chance as the clock winded down but couldn't convert and the Rams prevailed with a 10-11 overtime victory.
Ethan Zirh stopped 12 shots while
Jack Leighton won four out of six exclusions, Olivér Fodor found the back of the net twice and nlocked four shots.
Vuk Bulajic recorded a hat trick, dished out two assists, and recorded two steals in the semifinal loss.
The Seahawks will participate in the consolation game on Sunday and will battle George Washington University for a chance to claim a third-place finish in the MAWPC. This will be the third time these two teams battle as both teams claimed victories in the opponents pool. The Colonials claimed a 12-11 victory on October 9 at the Spiro Sports Center before the Seahawks claimed a 12-5 victory on the road on November 7.
