No. 9 Water Polo's Comeback Falls Short at No. 5 Fordham

Friday, September 11

Bronx, NY

6:00 PM ET / 3:00 PM PT

Pepperdine University

4-4

Fordham

4-0

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Pepperdine	4	3	3	2	12
Fordham	5	4	2	5	16

No. 9 Water Polo's Comeback Falls Short at No. 5 Fordham

9/11/2026 5:33:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

BRONX, N.Y. — No. 9 Pepperdine water polo (4-5) fell by a score of 16-12 at No. 5 Fordham (5-0) Friday evening from Francis B. Messmore Aquatics Center.

The Waves trailed 9-4 early in the second quarter before battling back to make it a 10-10 game late in the third period. Eventually trailing by one entering the fourth, the Rams outscored the Waves 5-2 in the final frame to secure the victory.

Erik Ionescu led the Waves with four goals and two assists for a six-point effort, while Jon Carcarey logged a season-high three goals to go along with a steal and field block. Milo Joseph drew seven exclusions at center for the Waves, who scored four extra-man goals in the contest.

Max Smirnov was strong in the cage once again for the Waves, making 13 saves including a pair of five-meter penalty stops.

"We definitely played well enough to win the game this evening against an extremely talented team," said head coach Merrill Moses. "Unfortunately, we gave them a couple key counter attack opportunities and need to close games out better in the fourth quarter. We will rest and recover and are looking forward to playing Princeton on Sunday."

The highest-scoring period in the game came in the opening frame, as the Rams held a 5-4 lead after one. Carcarey netted the first goal of the game with the Rams then using a 5-1 run to take a 5-2 advantage with 55 seconds left before the intermission. Ionescu answered immediately with a goal while Carcarey put home a 6-on-5 opportunity in the closing seconds.

Fordham regained momentum in the second, shutting the Waves out for the first six minutes of the period while compiling a 9-4 lead. Pepperdine once again had answers to close out the half, with Carcarey converting another power play goal before consecutive scores from Ionescu in the final minute made it a 9-7 game at halftime.

Facing a 10-7 deficit in the second half, Pepperdine was able to make it a 10-10 contest with 2:04 on the clock in the third, with goals coming from Owen Tift, Hunter Danko and Ionescu. The Rams had the answer just before the break, taking an 11-10 lead into the fourth.

Neither team could pull across an even strength goal for the opening five minutes of the fourth, but Fordham was able to score three times on the power play to get out to a 14-10 lead with 2:42 remaining. The Waves would not go quietly, netting back-to-back 7-on-6 goals with Smirnov saving a five-meter penalty in between, making it a 14-12 game with 1:49 left.

Turnovers and exclusions plagued both teams in the final minutes, as neither were able to get a shot off in a critical stretch of the game. Fordham eventually drew another five-meter penalty with under 40 seconds to play, converting it to restore the three-goal lead. A goal with two seconds remaining brought the final score to 16-12.

Cade Anderton and Charles Warmington joined Ionescu and Carcarey as Waves with multi-point efforts, while Jackson Benners and Hunter Danko also logged goals.

Pepperdine will return Sunday at No. 12 Princeton, with the opening sprint set for 9:30 a.m. PT on ESPN+.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE WATER POLO
Pepperdine water polo has seen success spanning decades under Terry Schroeder who gave the reins to Merrill Moses following the 2023 season. Highlighted by its national championship in 1997 with Moses as the starting goalie, the Waves have reached the NCAA Tournament on 13 occasions and recently won the inaugural WCC Regular Season Championship in 2023. Overall, the program has seen 67 athletes garner All-American honors while boasting a winning record in 37 of 51 seasons.

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