Nov. 18, 2004

DAVIS, Calif. - The No. 2 seed Loyola Marymount Lions needed overtime goals from Ben Easton and Sean Wimer to rally for a 12-11 victory over No.7 Whittier in Game 5 of the 2004 Western Water Polo Association Men's Championships, being held at the Schaal Aquatics Center on the campus of UC Davis.

It was a high scoring affair early as Whittier jumped out to the 4-3 lead after the first period. LMU would tie it up by halftime at 5-5 thanks to goals from junior Brian McShane and sophomore Cutberto Hernandez scored for the Lions.

Twice in the second half LMU held two goal leads only to have Whittier rally each time to tie the game. Trailing 10-9 with less than 30 seconds in regulation, A.J. Kotanjian scored his third goal of the game to force overtime.

In the extra period Wimer and Easton put LMU up 12-10, with Easton's second proving to be the game-winner. Kotanjian cut the lead to 12-11 with 1:53 remaining, but the Poets drew no closer as Lion goalie Ian Elliott made his biggest save of the game late.

Whittier drew a kickout with 10 seconds remaining, giving the Poets the man-up advantage. With time running down, Kotanjian fired a shot from the right of the goal as the horn sounded. Elliott came across the goal to make the save and push LMU into Friday's semifinal.

The loss ended Whittier's 11-game winning streak as the Poets move to 23-8 on the season. McShane finished the game with three goals, while Endre Rex-Kiss, Scott Marshall and Easton added two each.

LMU improves to 18-10 on the season, giving them the most wins since 22 in 1999. The Lions will take on UC Davis at 2 p.m. Friday in the semifinals.

- GO LIONS -