April 2, 2003

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Briefly
It was a solid week for the Loyola Marymount University women's water polo team as they ran their winning streak to a season-best eight games thanks to a sweep in the 2003 LMU Invitational. With a record of 15-7, the seventh-ranked Lions will head to Arizona State to take on the Sun Devils on Friday, April 4 at 7:00 p.m. While in Arizona, the Lions will also play Michigan and San Jose State on Saturday, April 5.

On A Roll
The Lions won four games last week to run their winning streak to eight games, one shy of tying the program record of nine they set in the 2001 season. During the current streak, the Lions have been getting it done at both ends of the pool. Scoring 10 or more goals just once in the first 14 games, the Lions have now done it five times in the last eight while averaging almost 12 goals a game. At the same time, the Lions have been shutting down their opponents' offense. LMU's defense and freshman goalie Rachel Riddell have been impressive, allowing just two goals per game during the eight-game stretch. Riddell has lowered her goals against average to 4.15 over the last three weeks to pace the Lions.

Up Next
LMU's winning streak will be put to the test with three games against the nation's top-20. LMU will start the weekend with a rare evening match-up against No. 19 Arizona State in Tempe on Friday, April 4. It will be the first meeting between the two programs. The Sun Devils enter the week with a record of 16-10 and have won five of their last six, including an upset over No. 15 UC Irvine. The Lions will then take on No. 12 Michigan for the second time this season. The Lions defeated the Wolverines 7-5 on Feb. 21 at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center. Michigan enters the week with a record of 14-8 overall and have yet to defeat the Lions, who hold a 4-0 series edge. The Lions will end their trip with No. 9 San Jose State. The Lions will be looking for their first win in nine meetings against the Spartans. SJSU enters the weekend with a 13-10 record, losing to USC and Cal last week.

Last Week
Vs. UC Davis... Another balanced offensive attack and solid defense led No. 7 Loyola Marymount University water polo team to a 6-1 win over No. 15 UC Davis at Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on March 27. Freshman goalie Rachel Riddell had 12 saves and senior Teresa Guidi added four steals to pace the Lions defense in holding Western Water Polo Association rival UC Davis to just one goal in the third period. Five players scored for the Lions, including a pair of goals from freshman Katie Hicks... vs. Redlands... The Lions cruised to a 15-2 victory of the University of Redlands in the opening day of the 2003 LMU Invitational on March 28. LMU scored five unanswered goals to start the game, taking a 5-0 lead thanks in part to two quick tallies by freshman Katie Hicks. Freshman goalie Rachel Riddell helped secure the padded lead with three saves with Redlands on the doorstep in the second quarter. Hicks finished with her fifth hat-trick of the season and Riddell added 11 saves. Junior Devon Wright also added three goals, while junior Neisha Hoagland and freshman Stacia Peterson each had a pair of tallies... vs. Claremont/Santa Clara... The Loyola Marymount University women's water polo team ran their winning streak to eight games thanks to a two-game sweep in the final day of the 2003 LMU Invitational on Saturday. The Lions and freshman goalie Rachel Riddell allowed just two goals on the day, taking a 14-1 win over Claremont in their first game of the day and then posting a 9-1 win over Santa Clara in the final game of the tournament. In the three-game invitational, Riddell allowed just four goals and has allowed an average of 1.4 goals over the last five games. The Lions gave Riddell plenty of goal support as 10 players scored in the 13-goal win over Claremont and another six in the win over Santa Clara. Junior Jamie Kroeze had a hat-trick against Claremont, while junior Devon Wright and senior Julia Wald each had a pair in the win over the Broncos. The Lions finish the LMU Invitational 3-0. Also going 3-0 was UC Davis, who defeated Cal State Northridge 7-2 in the first game on Saturday and Redlands 4-1 in game four. Other scores on the final day include Redlands defeating Santa Clara 7-4, and Cal State Northridge defeating Claremont 5-1.

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 and retained that ranking for the first five weeks of the season. The Lions, who have won the Western Water Polo Association championship the last two seasons, will be looking for their third straight trip to 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. The Lions are currently ranked seventh..

Making a Statement
Several newcomers are making an instant impact in their first season at LMU. Junior college transfers Devon Wright and Neisha Hoagland are among the team leaders in goals. Wright is second on the team with 29 goals on 72 shots (40 percent). Hoagland is shooting 42 percent, scoring 14 goals on the year. Freshman goalie Rachel Riddell has had a solid start, making 202 saves in 20.5 games of work for a 4.146 goals against average.

Young and Experience
Freshman Katie Hicks has already is off to a solid first season of collegiate water polo. The native of San Luis Obispo leads the team with 34 goals, moving her to 11th all-time in career scoring at LMU. In addition, she is one goal shy of cracking into the top-10 for goals in a season, one goal behind Teresa Guidi for 10th. Sophomore Jessica Conner has also had a solid start to her second season, scoring 19 goals with 30 steals. Junior Teresa Guidi and senior Julia Wald continue to become a pair of the Lions' all-time leading scorers. Guidi has added 17 this season to give her 96 in her career (fourth all-time at LMU). Wald has added 10 to her totals for 114 in her four years (third all-time). For the first time in her career at LMU, Guidi was forced to sit out the final two games of the LMU Invitational due to an injury suffered against Redlands.

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. 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.

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.

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 105-62 (.629).

- GO LIONS -