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Fordham's Ali Arat Named November 9 Men's Varsity Northern Division Rookie of the Week
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- Fordham University's Ali Arat (Gr., Istanbul, Turkey/Sisli Terakki Secondary, Koc University) scored five goals, grabbed three steals and drew five kickouts in three games as the Rams finished 2-1 at the Northern Division Championship hosted by Harvard University for the program's first bid to the Eastern Championship in over 20-years. For his performance, Arat was named the November 9 Northern Division Rookie of the Week.
Against Connecticut College, he scored once in a 22-2 victory to help the Rams clinch their first bid to the Eastern Championship since the 1980's before contributing a goal against Iona College (7-4 W) in the semifinals to put Fordham into the division title game against Brown.
Versus Brown (8-7 L), he pumped in three goals to raise his season scoring total to a team best 70 points, including 62 goals to rank second on the squad.
A member of the Turkish National Team Program since 2003, playing for the Senior National Team from 2006-08, he competed for the Senior team in tournaments in Italy, Poland, France, and Thailand, where the team's best finish came at the 2006 Poland Cup, where they placed second.
He becomes the first non-freshman to win the Rookie of the Week award in conference history as the awards honoring rookie players are applied to an athlete's first year of competition in the Collegiate Water Polo Association and in NCAA intercollegiate competition.
