Oct. 17, 2003

Final Stats

Los Angeles, CA (Oct. 17, 2003)- The 10th-ranked Loyola Marymount University men's water polo team had its seventh heartbreaking one-goal loss to a team in the nation's top-10 as they fall to sixth-ranked UC San Diego 9-8 at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Friday afternoon.

UC San Diego's Chris Finegood scored with one minute to play in the final quarter for the eventual game-winner as the Tritons knock off the Lions in a key battle in the Western Water Polo Association. UC San Diego improves to 12-7 on the year while the Lions fall to 9-10. Of those 10, seven have come by one goal against teams in the nation's top-10.

Trailing by a goal entering the final frame, sophomore Endre Rex-Kiss scored his third goal of the game with 5:19 on the clock to tie the game at 7-7. The Tritons would answer just over a minute later on a goal by Matthew Ustaszewski with 4:09 remaining to take an 8-7 lead. With under three minutes to play the Lions would hold a one-minute possession, getting off three shots on UCSD goalie Colin McElroy. He would answer the call as he would knock two shots out of bounds and the third he would gather.

With the stop, Finegood would score on the next offensive trip to give UCSD a 9-7 lead. It was a key goal as the Lions would score with 40 seconds left in regulation on an extra-man attack by Rex-Kiss, his fourth of the day. UCSD would run the clock down on their final possession and gave LMU just four seconds in an attempt to tie. The Lions could not get a shot off.

LMU would take a 4-3 lead into halftime thanks to a pair of goals by senior Ryan Chapatte and single goals by senior Tamas Szego and Rex-Kiss. Matt Ellis, Jonathan Hopkins and Chris Finegood all scored in the first half for UCSD.

The Tritons would then score four goals in the third quarter to take the lead for good. Clark Petersen scored twice while Hopkins and Ellis would add one each to take the 7-6 lead into the final quarter. Chapatte finished with three goals for LMU.

The Lions will play second-ranked USC on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 5:00 p.m.

Box Score
UC San Diego	1	2	4	2	-	9
LMU		1	3	2	2	-	8
Scoring:
UCSD - Clark Petersen, Matt Ellis, Chris Finegood, Jonathan Hopkins, Matthew Ustaszewski.
LMU - Endre Rex-Kiss 4, Ryan Chapatte 3, Tamas Szego
Saves:
UCSD - Colin McElroy 7
LMU - Ian Elliot 11