LA VERNE, Calif. — The University of La Verne men's water polo team lost, 12-6, to Fordham on Thursday afternoon at La Verne Aquatics Center.
The Leopards fall to 4-4 on the season while Fordham improves to 7-6.
Sloppy offensive execution cost the Leopards. Despite starting slow, La Verne kept itself in the game with gritty defense and got within 6-4 on Joshua Vega's goal halfway into the third quarter. The Leopards then earned three separate man-up advantages to gain more ground but could not convert on any power play chances. The Rams took advantage of La Verne's missed opportunities and ran away with three unanswered goals to close the third quarter leading, 9-4.
Andrew Phillips stemmed the bleeding for La Verne at the 4:36 mark in the fourth quarter but the Leopards could not muster a run.
Fordham opened the scoring about 2:30 into the game and Bryan Jimenez answered less than 20 seconds later to tie the game at 1-1. But the Rams pieced together three straight goals to get out to a 4-1 and never looked back.
Chad Castro had two goals for the Leopards. Vega, Phillips and Jared Hopley each had one.
La Verne returns to action tomorrow at Haldeman Pool for the first day of Gary Troyer Convergence. The Leopards will take on Cal Baptist at 12:30 p.m. and Johns Hopkins at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, La Verne will face George Washington at 9 a.m. and Cal Lutheran at 4:30 p.m.
Fordham 12, La Verne 6
Oct. 1, 2015 • La Verne, Calif.
FU 3 - 3 - 3 - 3 = 12
LV 1 - 2 - 1 - 2 = 6
SCORING:
FU -- R.J. Simmons 3, Davis DeFontes 2, Diego Delgado 2, Andrew Gonzalez 2, Bobby Wurtz, Patrick Lenihan, Peter Bergum
LV -- Chad Castro 2, Andrew Phillips, Joshua Vega, Jared Hopley.