Feb. 5, 2003
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Briefly
The sixth-ranked Loyola Marymount University women's water polo team will travel to San Diego for the UC San Diego Arena Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 8-9. The Lions will open the tournament against Cal Baptist and then play either UC San Diego or UC Santa Barbara. The Lions are the number one seed in Pool B of the tournament. The Lions game against Cal Baptist is at 11:00 a.m. and their second game will be at 5:00 p.m.
Arena Invitational
This will be the second consecutive season the Lions will play in the UC San Diego Arena Invitational. In their first appearance a year ago, the Lions claimed the tournament championship with wins over Cal Baptist (10-3), ninth-ranked San Diego State (5-3) and 11th-ranked Long Beach State (7-6) in the title game. The Lions are in Pool B with eighth-ranked UC San Diego, 12th-ranked UC Santa Barbara and Cal Baptist. Pool A includes fourth-ranked Long Beach State, 10th-ranked Michigan, 16th-ranked UC Davis and 20th-ranked Arizona State, while Pool C includes seventh-ranked San Diego State, 13th-ranked UC Irvine, 17th-ranked Hartwick and Cal State Bakersfield.
In the Rankings
The Lions continued to move up the ranks of the nation's elite as they were ranked sixth in the 2003 preseason poll by the American Water Polo Coaches' Association on Jan. 22 and retained that ranking in the following polls. The Lions, who have won the Western Water Polo Association championship the last two seasons, will be looking for their third straight trip the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship. The number six ranking is the highest since they finished last season ranked seventh in the nation while defeating Michigan in the third place game of the 2002 NCAA Championship. LMU follows top-ranked Stanford, UCLA, USC, Long Beach State and California in the national poll.
Season Opener
The Loyola Marymount University women's water polo team began the 2003 season by dropping a 8-4 decision to third-ranked USC in nonconference action at McDonald's Swim Stadium on Feb. 1. USC (1-0) scored four goals in the first period and took a 7-2 lead at halftime against sixth-ranked LMU (0-1). The Lions had goals from Neisha Hoagland, Jessica Conner, Devon Wright and Teresa Guidi. The Lions would allow just one goal in the third quarter and earn two tallies in the fourth to close the gap on the Trojans.
Taking Third
LMU earned a third place finish at the 2002 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships thanks to a 6-4 win over the University of Michigan. Senior Lucy Windes scored four of the Lions' six tallies and senior Western Water Polo Association Player of the Year Devon Courtney made several tough saves in the victory. With the game tied at 1-1, Windes took over. She would score with 6:19 remaining in the second period to give LMU a 2-1 lead and then again just over 40 seconds later for the 3-1 lead. The game would go into halftime with Lions up 3-2. Teresa Guidi would score possibly the Lions' biggest goal of the game with just 1:24 remaining in the third period to give LMU a 4-2 lead. Windes would add her third of the game on a penalty shot with just four seconds remaining in the third. Windes would get her fourth of the day with 1:50 left in the fourth period to give LMU the 6-3 lead.
A Tough Rematch
The Lions were put into the consolation game against Michigan thanks to a 11-2 loss to UCLA in the NCAA Women's Water Polo semifinals. It was the second straight season the Lions have fallen to the Bruins in the first day of the NCAA Championship. Last season the Lions fell 11-1. The Bruins built a 7-0 lead before the Lions got on the board. Sophomore Jamie Kroeze would score at the 5:17 mark of the third period to give LMU its first goal. After UCLA extended the lead to 8-1, LMU got its final goal of the game by junior Julia Wald with 4:29 left in the third.
All-Americans
Three members of the Loyola Marymount University women's water polo team were named to the 2002 American Water Polo Coaches Association All-American team, the most ever in the program's five-year history. Senior Lucy Windes, who became the first player in program history to claim back-to-back All-American honors, was selected second-team All-America for the second consecutive season. Earning third-team All-America honors was senior goalie Devon Courtney, her first selection to the All-America team. Also earning her first selection was sophomore Teresa Guidi, who earned honorable mention All-America honors.
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. 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. Freshman Jessica 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, which was supplemented by solo goals from Guidi, Windes and Christina Radvanyi. With a 4-3 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 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 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. They added to the list of accomplishments when Windes was a NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship first-team All-Tournament selection. Guidi was also recognized as a second-team All-Tournament selection.
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. Underclassmen led the Lions in the WWPA tournament in scoring, including Jessica Conner's hat trick in the championship game. Conner finished the season 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 35 goals this season, giving her 79 in her two-year career as a Lion. Her 35 goals are ranked 10th all-time for goals in a season and her 79 career tallies ranks 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 23 goals, fifth on the team.
LMU's Head Coach
John Loughran begins his sixth 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 21-8 mark, he has posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns. His career record sits at 89-56 (.618). 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. 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.
