Fordham Will Not Go Undefeated in 2025… and is Not Participating in the MPSF Invite
For those of you who—like the mythical Virginia of Christmas yore—either believe in Santa Claus or had hopes that the Rams of Fordham University would again go undefeated in their quest for an NCAA berth, think again.
Fordham (5-1) has already dropped a match (officially) to UCLA, a 16-9 decision that wasn’t that close. They also were beaten 19-7 by Ferencvaros (FTC), Champions League two-time defending champions, in an exhibition match.
[FTC Schools Young Fordham Team]
For those of you who don’t know, last season the Rams romped undefeated all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA men’s tournament, becoming the first-ever polo team from the East to carry an unblemished record so late in the season. On their way to a spectacular regular season mark, the best in program history, Fordham also became the first and only Eastern team to be ranked #1 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s men’s varsity poll.
Rams assemble! Fordham players at the 2025 Princeton Invitational. Photo: Scott Greenwald / Fordham Athletics
They dropped an exhilarating contest to USC in the 2024 NCAA tournament, coming back from a goal down late the match to tie the score at 14 before falling 18-16 in overtime. It was the best performance by an Eastern team in tournament play since Princeton took UCLA to overtime in the semifinals of the 2004 NCAAs.
Perhaps if the Rams had played a more difficult schedule they might have come out ahead against USC. Last year they only played two teams—Princeton and Pacific—ranked in the CWPA Top 10. In fact, of all the top teams in last year’s poll, Fordham had the least number of quality wins, having beaten seven opponents ranked in the top 20.
Which brings us to Ram Head Coach Brian Bacharach’s schedule choices for 2025. Besides UCLA a fortnight ago and Princeton on September 27th, the Rams will travel to California in late October and play ranked foes including Cal, currently the country’s #3 team, #4 Stanford and #7 Long Beach State.
Clearly this is a more difficult schedule than 2024, but to get to the top Bacharach and his players need to challenge themselves by playing against more West Coast teams. Beating up on the top teams in the East is not enough to prepare the Rams for what they hope will be another milestone season.
Andras Toth. The Fordham sophomore is the team’s most dynamic player. Photo: Scott Greenwald / Fordham Athletics
Playing in the MPSF Invitational Tournament would. As the nation’s #5 team, Fordham would be right at home against the nation’s top programs. In the CWPA Top Ten, only the Rams and #9 (T) Pacific are not traveling this weekend to Los Angeles to compete in the most prestigious in-season tournament in NCAA men’s polo.
The Rams are passing up an opportunity to play against the nation’s best to face Bucknell (1-6) Mercyhurst (0-3) and Mount St. Mary’s (4-7)—three MidAtlantic Water Polo Conference opponents.
Fordham’s Eastern rival who is not passing up this opportunity to match up against the best teams in the country, and the world, is Princeton (8-0). As they have for the past three seasons, Head Coach Dustin Litvak’s Tigers will spend this weekend as the only non-California team in the 16-team draw that opens today at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatics Center and UCLA’s Spieker Aquatics Center. In each of those previous seasons, not only has Princeton qualified for the NCAA tournament, but they have also performed well, winning quarterfinal matches in 2022 and 2023 and having a credible—if futile—performance in Avery Aquatic Center against host Stanford in 2024.
The Tigers open today against tenth-ranked UC San Diego; if they win, on Saturday they would face #2 USC, which is sure to beat DIII power Claremont Mudd Scripps. A loss to the Trojans would put them in the losers’ bracket; Princeton would likely face UC Irvine, currently ranked #8.
The push to play in the MPSF Invite is consistent with Litvak’s drive to challenge his players to be their best by facing the best possible competition. When pro clubs Pro Recco and Ferencvaros visited New York City and Princeton two weeks ago, the Tigers played both.
[Pros vs. College Kids Brought Attention to New York City Water Polo]
At the time, Litvak pointed out that his players had only been together for a few weeks, so any opportunity to develop will pay dividends later in the season.
Princeton goalie Kristof Kovács. Photo: Colleen Bell / Princeton Athletics
“Our goal is always to compete with everybody,” Litvak said on the Asphalt Green pool deck on September 3. “We want to be competitive with UCLA. It's hard for us to be there right now and back for two, two and a half weeks. Our goal is to be there again in November and December, and we want to set up the toughest schedule to put ourselves. That's why we're the only team playing both Recco and FTC. No one else is doing that one or the other.”
Fordham fans might argue that two weekends in California is one too many for an elite academic institution. Princeton, one of the most academically challenging universities in the world, doesn’t let that stop them from competing against the nation’s best.
If the Rams want to fulfill the dream of every East Coast and advance to an NCAA final, they should think about how who they play in September prepares them for success in December.