Sept. 16, 2003

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Just Briefly

The Lions picked up a pair of shutout wins over the weekend when they hosted the LMU Tournament. LMU blanked both Oakland and UW-Milwaukee by the score of 1-0. Lion sophomore Kellie Schroeder and junior Shari Nishikawa scored the game's only goals. Junior goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro collected the shutout in both games, giving her three on the season. Nishikawa is currently eighth on the career assists list tied with former Lion Bree McCann (1996-99).

Up Next

The Lions continue their homestand hosting both Portland State and Kansas this weekend. LMU will take on the Vikings on Friday, Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. and the Jayhawks on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 12 p.m. Both games will be played on Sullivan Field on the Loyola Marymount University campus. It is the first time the Lions will face either team.

One Goal At A Time

The Lions are getting through the schedule one goal at a time it seems like, literally. LMU has scored only one goal in its last four games. The Lions scored two goals in their home and season-opener against Cal State Northridge, it was the first and last time they collected more than one goal in a game.

Yeah!!!!...For Yukihiro

Junior goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro has been cleaning up in front of the goal. The only keeper to appear in net for the Lions so far this season picked up two shutouts over the weekend giving her three on the season and 8.5 in her career. She has made 20 saves to date and boasts a goals against average of 0.47, third best in the West Coast Conference and 17th best in the nation in team GAA.

Schroeder Gets On The Board

Sophomore forward Kellie Schroeder scored her first goal of the season for LMU in the Lions' 1-0 win over Oakland last Friday. Schroeder, LMU's leading scorer in 2002, is one of five different Lions to score a goal this season. She is fourth on the team in shot attempts with 10.

Nishikawa Cracks The Record Book

Junior Shari Nishikawa's continues to inch her way up the all-time charts at LMU. The five assists she picked up last year gives her a total of eight career assists, which launched her into the top-10 on the all-time chart at LMU. Nishikawa is currently eighth on the career assists list tied with former Lion Bree McCann (1996-99). Nishikawa's team leading five assists last year was also among the best in the WCC. She finished 2002 just four assists shy from claiming the top spot in the single-season record book. The current single-season record of eight was set by Cindy Carullo (1993-96) in 1993 and then matched by Jessica Lyon (1995-98) in 1997.

A League Above The Rest

The WCC is the conference that many of the top women's soccer prospects are looking to when selecting a league to compete in. The league was ranked #3 in the nation in conference recruiting for the upcoming 2003 season by Soccer Buzz. With back-to-back national titles (Santa Clara in 2001, Portland in 2002), recruits are taking notice that some of the most competitive soccer is being played on the West Coast. In the highly competitive West region, all eight WCC schools are ranked in the top-25 in regards to incoming recruiting classes, making the league arguably the toughest conference in the nation. According to Soccer Buzz the Lions boast the 10th best recruiting class in the region and the 39th best in the nation. Soccer Buzz also ranks LMU 10th in the West Region.

LMU Head Coach

Gregg Murphy enters his eighth year at the helm of the LMU women's soccer program. Under Murphy the Lions have enjoyed unprecedented success, posting winning seasons in all but two of his years in Westchester and making their first ever postseason appearance in 2002. Murphy's record at LMU now stands at 73-51-13, while his career coaching record, which spans 13 seasons, stands at 131-103-17. An outstanding recruiter, Murphy's 2003 class was ranked 10th best in the West Region and 39th nationally by SoccerBuzz magazine. Murphy is a 1986 graduate of Chapman University.

Lions On The Web

Can't make it to a game? Not to worry. Now you can follow all the Lions home games and WCC away games live on the internet! Just log on to www.LMULions.com and catch each goal, assist, save and corner kick through the Lions' live stats programs. It's the next best thing to being there, so don't miss it!!

Lions On The Radio

This 2003-04 season, check out the LMU women's soccer team on the Lions' Audio Network. Thanks to an agreement with Yahoo! Sports, more than 110 LMU games will be aired live via the Internet throughout this season. This year the women's soccer team will be a part of the broadcast schedule, which includes these games:

Sunday, Sept. 28 vs. USC - 1:00 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24 vs. Gonzaga - 3:00 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26 vs. Portland - 1:00 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2 vs. San Francisco - 1:00 p.m. NCAA Postseason Games - TBA In addition to the increased number of broadcasts, Yahoo! Sports will bring its state-of-the-art technology to the Lions' Audio Network. To ensure the best product for our listeners, the Yahoo! Sports partnership is a subscription-based program. Live programming is a hallmark of every major athletics program in the country and LMU's commitment is an example to our student-athletes and fans of our continuing efforts to Build Champions and Championship programs! To follow the Lions live, go to: http://lmulions.ocsn.com/multimedia/loyo-multimedia.html

Recap vs. Oakland (Sept. 12)

LMU downed Oakland, 1-0, on Friday afternoon. Lion sophomore Kellie Schroeder scored the game's only goal, her first of the season. LMU dominated the entire first half outshooting Oakland 11-1 in the period. The Lions best shot at a goal came when sophomore Jessica Hanson collected a ball the Grizzly defense failed to clear out. Hanson blasted a shot past Oakland goalkeeper Sarah Buckland but was denied the goal by a defender who cleared the ball just before it crossed the plane of the goal. Despite the advantage in shots and controlling the tempo of the game offensively, the Lions were scoreless in the first half, taking a 0-0 tie into the halftime break. It was more of the same in the second stanza as the Lions rattled off another five shots to just one for Oakland. Buckland was kept busy by LMU's offensive attack. Buckland made five saves in the game but came just short on Schroeder's game-winning shot. In the 66th-minute, freshman Tana Smothermon took a long pass from LMU goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro near midfield. Smothermon fed Schroeder a pass to the right side nearly 15 yards out. Schroeder blasted a shot into the upper left-hand corner of the net just out of Buckland's reach for the go-ahead goal. Yukihiro and Smothermon each collected assists on the play. The goal is the seventh of Schroeder's career.

Recap vs. UW-Milwaukee (Sept. 14)

The Lions defeated UW-Milwaukee, 1-0, on Sunday afternoon. Lion senior Shari Nishikawa scored the game's only goal, her second of the season. The Lion defense came up big in the first half turning away five corner kick opportunities. LMU held a slight 4-3 advantage in shots in the first half but could not get on the board, taking a scoreless 0-0 tie into the halftime break. The second stanza was all Lions as they dominated the game offensively out-shooting the Panthers 10-0. LMU's frenzied attack proved to be too much for UWM late in the game. Nishikawa found the back of the net in the 76th-minute off a pass from senior Jennifer Cefalia. Cefalia's pass deflected off a Panther defender and found Nishikawa in front of the goal. Nishikawa beat UWM goalkeeper Kerri St. Aubin to the ball for the score. St. Aubin made five saves on the day and picked up the loss. Lion goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro faced only three shots in the game, made one save and improved her record to 3-1-2. It is Yukihiro's third shutout of the season.

Viewing The Vikings

Portland State comes to Sullivan Field with a 1-4-0 overall record an is coming off two straight losses. The Vikings only win of the season, 3-1, over Idaho is sandwiched in between a pair of losses. Julie Forrest and Jamie Blakesley each have two goals on the season to lead PSU. Melanie Langley has the other Viking goal of the year. Joell Giger has spent most of the time in goal for PSU. Giger has made 18 saves and owns a 1.98 goals against average. Head Coach Tara Erickson owns a 15-24-6 record in her three years with the Vikings. This will be the first meeting between LMU and Portland State.

The Jump On The Jayhawks

Kansas heads west with a 6-1-0 overall record and will face San Diego before matching up with the Lions. The Jayhawks only loss of the year comes in the middle of two three-game win streaks. Caroline Smith, a sophomore, has collected an impressive 11 goals so far this season, and leads the team with 23 points. Meghan Miller has been KU's starting goalkeeper. Miller has made 19 saves and boasts a 0.87 goals against average. Mark Francis is in his fifth year at Kansas. He has compiled a 45-36-4 record with the Jayhawks, while his career record stands at 78-61-7 and spans eight years. This will also be the first time the Lions and Jayhawks have met.