May 8, 2002
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Briefly
The Loyola Marymount University women's water polo team claimed its second consecutive conference championship in the Western Water Polo Association thanks to an 8-4 win over UC San Diego in the championship match on Sunday, April 28. With the win, the Lions will make their second straight trip to the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship held at USC on Saturday and Sunday, May 10-11. The Lions, who have posted their second straight 20-win season with a 20-7 overall mark, head into the tournament as the number three seed and will take on the number two seed UCLA Bruins in a semifinal rematch.
Rematch
In just its second year, the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship will be hosted by the University of Southern California on May 11-12. Three of the four teams will be making repeat appearances to the Final Four of women's water polo, including the 7th-ranked LMU Lions. Also earning a return trip will be No. 1 UCLA and No. 2 Stanford. Joinin them will be No. 12 Michigan. In a rematch of last year's semifinal, the third-seeded Lions will take on number two-seed UCLA in the second game of the day at 5 p.m. The Lions lost to the Bruins, who went on to win the NCAA title last year, in the semfinal, 11-1. The Lions will look for the program's first-ever win against the Bruins, as they are 0-2 against UCLA in two prior meetings. The Lions are 0-2 against the Cardinal and 2-0 against Michigan, defeating the Wolverines earlier this season 10-3.
Building A Tradition
In just its fifth season of existence, the LMU women's water polo program has achieved unparrelled success. Head Coach John Loughran has compiled a winning percentage of .620 (88-54). In building a tradition, the Lions' first recruiting class has been a big part of that success. This will mark the senior season for that first recruiting class. Seniors Caroline Guidi, Orla Stewart, Meredith Bellotti, Devon Courtney and Lucy Windes will finish their careers helping the Lions to 79 of their 88 all-time victories.
Back-to-Back
The Lions became just the fourth team in LMU history to claim back-to-back conference championships with three convincing wins in the Western Water Polo Association championships held April 26-28 at UC Santa Cruz. The Lions outscored their opponents 38-6 during the tournament to earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Final Four. Here is how the Lions claimed their second WWPA title:
Quarterfinals: The Lions began the 2002 WWPA tournament with a 15-1 win over Chapman in the quarterfinals on Friday. The top-seeded Lions (19-7) started in convincing fashion against the eight-seed, Chapman, as sophomore transfer student, Rachel Saal led the Lions in scoring on the day with three goals. Seniors Caroline Guidi and Lucy Windes each added a pair of tallies along with two from freshman Kelsey Wilcox. Single goals came from Jessica Conner, Julia Wald, Rebecca Peterson and Adrianne Sulaver. Devon Courtney played the entire four quarters in front of the Lions' cage, collecting five saves.
Semifinals: The Lions continued their 15-goal pace on Saturday as they defeated the Santa Clara Broncos 15-1 to advance to the championship game against UC San Diego. Wald, Teresa Guidi and Windes each put a hat trick on the board for the Lions, while Conner put her own pair of goals in the cage. Solo goals came from Saal, Orla Stewart, Nicole Norris and Peterson. Courtney played at goalie for three quarters, replaced by Stewart in the fourth. Courtney collected seven saves for the Lions, while Stewart was able to get three of her own.
Championship: The Lions defended their Western Water Polo Association title on Sunday with a 8-4 win over No. 9 UC San Diego to receive their second-straight automatic bid to the NCAA Final Four. The freshman driver Conner led the Lions in scoring in the Championship game with three goals. Sophomore utility player Jamie Kroeze put a pair of goals in the cage supplemented with solo goals by Guidi, Windes and Christina Radvanyi. With a 3-3 halftime lead the Lions pulled away in the third quarter with three goals. UCSD put one goal away early in the fourth period to bring the score to 7-4. LMU, however, would get the goal right back to seal the victory.
Honor Roll
Following the 2002 WWPA tournament, the Lions once again dominated the postseason awards. LMU's all-time leading goalie, Devon Courtney, was named the WWPA Player of the Year. She played in all but one quarter in front of the Lions' cage throughout the season. During the WWPA tournament she allowed only six goals total. Lucy Windes, who was last year's Player of the Year, joined fellow senior Courtney as a first-team All-WWPA selection. Sophomore Teresa Guidi and Senior Orla Stewart were named to the second-team All-Conference, while sophomore Jamie Kroeze was named honorable mention. It was Guidi's second straight selection. LMU Head Coach John Loughran was named the WWPA Coach of the Year for the second-straight season, leading the Lions to their second straight conference title.
Hitting The Mark
Senior Lucy Windes has made her mark in four seasons with the Lions, setting the all-time school record in goals with 235. She has set a pace that might stand for years to come as the program builds in tradition. In four seasons, she averaged more than 58 goals a year and scored a single-season record 70 goals in 1999. She holds four of the five best goals per season, earning 58 (3rd all-time) in 2001, 54 (4th) in 2000 and 49 (5th) this season.
Scholar-Athlete
Not only has senior goalie Devon Courtney made her stamp on the women's water polo program in her four-year career as a Lion, she has also become one of LMU's top student-athletes. Selected as the University's Student-Athlete of the Year, Courtney will graduate on May 12 with a 3.85 GPA in communication studies. She will finish with the highest GPA of all graduating seniors that participated in LMU athletics this school year. Not only has she brought home the awards in academics, but she has done it in the pool as well. She was selected as the WWPA Player of the Year thanks to her 4.5 goals against average, one of the best in the country. In the WWPA tournament her goals againt average was 1.3. She lowered her career GAA to 5.56 and has made 853 saves, both are best in LMU history.
Youth Movement
There was a youth movement during the WWPA tournament, as LMU's all-time leading scorer Lucy Windes scored just one goal to help the Lions advance to the NCAA Championship. Providing the spark for LMU was a youthful cast that has the Lions' future in good hands. Three sophomores led the Lions in the WWPA tournament in scoring, including freshman Jessica Conner's hat trick in the championship game. The freshman from Yorba Linda, Calif., heads into the Final Four with 26 goals (fourth on the team) in her first season of collegiate water polo. Joining her was sophomore Rachel Saal with three goals in the quarterfinals against Chapman and sophomore Teresa Guidi with a hat trick in the semifinals against Santa Clara. Guidi was second on the team with 33 goals this season, giving her 77 in her two-year career as a Lion. Her 33 goals are ranked 10th all-time for goals in a season and her 77 career tallies rankes her fourth in the LMU record books. Saal, who transferred from Indiana, has seven goals in her first season as a Lion. In addition, sophomore Jaime Kroeze adds to the Lions' youthful scoring punch with 22 goals, fifth on the team.
Extra-man Advantage
Having the extra-man advantage has proven success for the Lions so far this season. Teresa Guidi leads the pack in kick-outs drawn (57) allowing the Lions to convert 32 percent (52-164) of their 6-on-5 advantage chances. When the Lions are down a player, they have held strong with their opponents converting only 19 percent (29-148) of their extra-man chances.
LMU's Head Coach
John Loughran concludes his fifth season at the helm of the women's water polo program at Loyola Marymount University. In his tenure as the head coach of all three Lions' aquatics programs, Loughran has posted total success. He has now earned the Western Water Polo Association women's water polo coach of the year in the last two seasons for guiding the Lions to back-to-back conference titles. The women's team ended the national championship in third place in 2001 and will again earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship this year. Loughran has earned three straight winning seasons and with this year's 20-7 mark, he has posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns. His career record sits at 88-54 (.620). In the Fall his men's water polo team won his first-ever WWPA Championship, earning the title at home. The Lions' coach received his second WWPA Coach of the Year award. His men's team also finished third at the NCAA National Championships. Prior to arriving at Loyola Marymount, Loughran led the Queens College men's water polo team to a 75-63 overall record in five seasons. Queens posted a 25-7 mark in 1995, a 20-5 record in 1996, and won the College Water Polo Association (CWPA) North Division title both years. Queens finished each of Loughran's last two seasons ranked 15th nationally, the highest ranking in program history. Following the 1994 and 1995 seasons, Loughran garnered Eastern Championship co-Coach of the Year honors and received CWPA North Division Coach of the Year accolades in 1994, 1995 and 1996. In 1993, Loughran initiated the women's water polo program at Queens College. The team played at the cub level in its first two campaigns before moving on to the varsity level in 1996. After posting an 8-4 record in its inaugural year of collegiate competition, Loughran guided the team to a second place finish in the New York Division of the CWPA with a 13-3 mark in 1997. In addition to his duties at Queens College, Loughran served as Aquatics Director at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, NY, for two years. A 1990 graduate of Loyola University of Chicago, he was a four-year letter winner on the water polo and swim teams. A native of Greenwich, Conn., Loughran was a second-team high school All-American in water polo and won the state swim titles in the 200 and 500 freestyle as a senior. Loughran and his wife Merritt reside in Venice, Calif.
