Nov. 9, 2005
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Just Briefly
The 10th-ranked Loyola Marymount University men's water polo team will complete the regular season when they travel to play 14th-ranked UC Santa Barbara on Thursday, Feb. 10 at 3:00 p.m. The Lions will then host the 2005 Western Water Polo Association Championships at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Nov. 17-19.
The Lions
The Lions moved up one spot in the nation's top-20 after a pair of wins over ranked opponents last weekend. The Lions are now ranked 10th in the nation with a 15-14 record overall and 7-3 in the WWPA. LMU took a step toward the number two seed in the upcoming WWPAs with wins over UC Davis and Air Force, who were ranked 10th and 18th, respectively. The seeding for the tournament will be released Monday. In the national rankings, the Lions are 19th in goals with 237 in 29 games while ranking eighth in goals allowed at 6.8 per game. Junior Ian Elliott is ranked fifth in the country with his 237 saves while senior Endre Rex-Kiss is ranked seventh with 62 goals on the year. The two-time All-American also has 30 assists and 31 steals, ranking first and second on the team. Junior Brian McShane is second on the squad with 26 goals and while junior Matt Reynolds is first in steals with 33.
UC Santa Barbara
No. 14 UC Santa Barbara enters the week with a record of 12-14 overall, 0-5 in the MPSF. UCSB is coming off a tough week in which it dropped two MPSF matches by a score of 7-6. On Saturday, the Gauchos lost to ninth-ranked Pacific, a game which could have easily been won by UCSB. The Gauchos surrendered three unanswered first quarter goals and came up one goal short. On the positive side, UCSB did end the match strong, posting five of the six fourth-quarter goals. In arguably the best played match of the season, UCSB came up one goal short again on Sunday, this time against No. 2 Cal. The Gauchos matched Cal's level of play on the day, but after leading 4-3 at halftime, UCSB was unable to hang on the upset the Bears.
All-Time Series
This will be the 22nd meeting between UCSB and LMU. The Gauchos hold a 15-6 edge in the series. The last meeting came in the first game of the season for LMU as the Lions defeated the Gauchos 7-5 in the first game of the UCSD Triton Invitational on Sept. 3.
Senior Farewell
This will be the final regular season game for seniors Endre Rex-Kiss, Justin Coleman and Scott Marshall. In his four seasons at LMU, Rex-Kiss has risen to the top of almost every record in LMU history. This season he leads the team with 62 goals, giving him 251 in his career. He now sits second all-time in career points, replacing Kyle Witt (2002) who had 210. Ryan Eisberg finished his career with 301 total points (played during two-point goal era) to lead all goal scorers. Although records are unofficial for actual goals, Rex-Kiss' 251 goals is the best in LMU history. In addition, he is first all-time with 111 assists, tied for first with 122 games played and fourth all-time with 129 steals. After spending three years as a back-up goalie for the Lions, Coleman answered the call to play on the offensive end for the Lions, making a difficult transition in his final season. In his first season in the field, Coleman has four goals. In his previous three season, Coleman played 69 quarters in goal, making 116 saves while allowing just 109 goals for a goals against average of 6.3. Marshall will complete his third season at LMU with 38 goals in 83 career games. Marshall has 17 goals on the year entering the UCSB game, adding 10 assists and four steals to his career totals. In his career he has 17 assists and 17 steals.
Stopper
Junior goalie Ian Elliott showed why he is one of the nation's best by leading the Lions to another WWPA title last season. He continues that trend this season with 237 saves while allowing just 187 goals (6.74 goals against average). He has played in 111 of the 116 quarters this season and was named to the East Meets West All-Tournament team. He is ranks fifth in the nation with 237 saves, giving him a program record 756 in his career.
Last Week
For the second straight day the Loyola Marymount men's water polo team and their defense shutout an opponent in the first period to propel them to a 10-5 win over 18th-ranked Air Force on Saturday afternoon. After posting a shutout in the first period against UC Davis Friday, the Lions did it again in starting out the game with a 2-0 lead. Goalie Ian Elliott made three of his seven saves in the first frame as the Lions took a lead they would not relinquish. On the day the Lions went a perfect 5-for-5 on the extra-man attack while their defense made the opponent struggle. For the weekend the Lions held their two opponents to 2-of-17 on the 6-on-5 attack, holding Air Force to 1-for-8 after holding UC Davis to 1-for-9. Senior Endre Rex-Kiss led the Lions with three goals. The day before and just one game removed from posting a career-best 17 saves, junior goalie Ian Elliott made 11 saves and the Lions used an impressive defensive effort for a 6-2 win over 10th-ranked UC Davis at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Friday afternoon. Both Elliott and UC Davis goalie Mike McGee are ranked in nation's top-five for saves and they showed why as both teams posted a shutout through the first period. While Elliott made three saves in the first frame and 11 for the game, the Lions kept McGee busy throughout as he finished with 17 saves, grabbing five in each of the first three quarter. The Lions finally broke through McGee and opened the game with five unanswered goals, three coming in the second and two in the third. Junior Ben Easton and Brian McShane each had two goals.
Back-to-Back
Brian McShane's two second-half goals and goalkeeper Ian Elliott's six fourth-quarter saves helped lift Loyola Marymount to a 6-3 victory over Redlands in the championship game of the 2004 Western Water Polo Association tournament at Schaal Aquatics Center Saturday, Nov. 20. The win gives the Lions their second consecutive conference championship and third in four years.
Award Winners
In case you missed it, the Loyola Marymount University men's water polo team added individual awards to their second straight Western Water Polo Association Championship. Junior Endre Rex-Kiss highlighted the honors, taking home WWPA Player of the Year honors. In addition to his MVP honor, Rex-Kiss was named first-team All-WWPA. Joining him on that list for the second straight season was goalie Ian Elliott. The sophomore earned first-team honors in net his freshman season a year ago. Making their first trip to the All-WWPA lists is senior Sean Wimer, whose 27 goals was third on the team, was named second-team and sophomore transfer Brian McShane was named honorable mention.
The Coach
In the past eight years, Head Coach John Loughran has been going about his business in developing the Loyola Marymount water polo programs (both the men and women) into one of the nation's best. In the men's water polo win over UC San Diego on Oct. 15, Loughran recorded his 200th career win as a men's water polo coach at the collegiate level. Loughran now has 149 wins at LMU to go with the 75 he earned while at Queens College in New York. Loughran has won eight conference titles in his time at LMU, taking five straight for the women's team and three in the last four years for the men. He has led the Lions to back-to-back conference titles, earning a win over UC San Diego in 2003 and Redlands in 2004. He has posted an overall record of 149-119 (.556) for the men's team in eight seasons, ranking him as the program's all-time winningest coach. He has also earned a record of 169-77 (.686) with the women's water polo program.
Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center
Since it opened in the fall of 2000 as the home of LMU aquatics, the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center has seen eight championships and the two water polo teams combine for 95 wins in just five short seasons. The Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center opened in August of 2000. The Lions have thrived in the state-of-the-art facility, earning a record of 95-28 in five seasons. The men's team went 6-3 in 2004 and have compiled a record of 45-20 (.692) during its stay at the Center. Overall, the two teams have combined for eight conference titles while the facility has been called home.
- GO LIONS -
