March 2, 2005
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Briefly
Fresh off a seventh place finish in one of the nation's elite regular season tournaments, the seventh-ranked Loyola Marymount University women's water polo team returns home to host the second tripleheader of the season at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Saturday, March 5. The Lions will host a pair of Western Water Polo Association foes starting with LMU taking on Chapman at 9:30 a.m. The Lions will also play 18th-ranked UC San Diego at 2:30 p.m. The middle game will feature Chapman taking on UCSD at 12:00 p.m.
At Home
LMU will welcome a pair of Western Water Polo Association opponents to the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Saturday. The Lions will open with Chapman at 9:30 a.m., a team the Lions have faced three previous times. The Lions are 3-0 against Chapman who are led by Kristin Carter with 13 goals. Chapman finished fifth in its own tournament last weekend and enter the week with a record of 3-1. As for the Tritons, the Lions have faced them more than any other in program history. This will be the 20th meeting between the two programs as LMU holds a 12-7 overall record against their water polo rival. LMU has won 12 straight, including a 9-2 win on Feb. 5. UC San Diego enters the with a 3-9 record.
Top-5 APR
Loyola Marymount University ranked fifth in the nation among all NCAA Division I schools in the first Academic Progress Rates (APR) report, issued by the NCAA on Feb. 28 for its 326 Division I schools. The APR measures an institutions success in retaining scholarship athletes and keeping them eligible in each sport. The Lions earned an APR score of 991, placing them in a tie for fifth with Villanova among all 326 Division I institutions. Rounding out the top-5 are Yale (999), Princeton (994), Penn (993) and William & Mary (992). LMU also ranks number one among all scores in the state of California, number one among all Jesuit institutions and best in the West Coast Conference (WCC). The average APR among the eight schools in the WCC sits at 964. The national average among all Division I schools is 948. The APR data is from the 2003-04 academic year and evaluates the institution's overall APR as well as each NCAA championship sport a school sponsors. LMU had 11 of the 16 sports earn a perfect score of 1000 and every sport earned a rate above a 967. Included in that 11 was the LMU women's water polo team, who competes in the Western Water Polo Association. The average APR among water polo programs in the country is 968.
Gaucho Invitational Recap
LMU 9 , SJSU 8 - With every game in the championship bracket going down to the final minutes in the 2005 Daktronics Gaucho Invitational, the Loyola Marymount University women's water polo team came out on the winning end, taking a 9-8 victory over 12th-ranked San Jose State to take seventh place. Sophomore goalie Rachel Riddell had another double digit save performance, earning 14 save. In a field that featured 19 of the 20 nationally ranked teams, all four games in the championship bracket came down to the fourth quarter and two going to overtime. Both Hawaii and LMU claimed one goal victories while Stanford won by two and UCLA claimed the tournament title with a win in overtime. Hawaii's win also came in extra frames. The Lions claimed seventh place in an evenly played match. San Jose State took a 2-1 lead after the first period but LMU answered with three goals in the second to take a 4-3 lead at the break. LMU held the one-goal lead as both teams scored three each in the third frame. With the score 7-6 entering the final frame, the Lions built the largest lead of the game with two unanswered goals to start the fourth for a 9-6 lead. San Jose State would not go away with two straight goals of their own. Riddell helped secure the win, keeping the Spartans at arms length. Christine Robinson led the Lions with three goals while Stacia Peterson and Dora Szabolcsi each added two. Cara Colton and Katie Murray added a goal each. Hawaii 9, LMU 6 - The Lions fell to Hawaii 9-6 thanks to a six-goal fourth quarter by the Rainbows The Lions took a 5-3 lead into the fourth quarter but saw Hawaii explode for six goals to take the lead and the game from LMU. Sophomore Cara Colton had two goals to lead the Lions. Also scoring for the Lions was Sarah Hamilton, Dora Szabolcsi, Stacia Peterson and Rosanna Tomiuk. Both Szabolcsi and Tomiuk have scored in every game of the tournament. LBSU 7, LMU 4 - LMU could not get the offense on track as they fall to fourth-ranked Long Beach State 7-4. It was the second meeting of the season between LMU and Long Beach State. The Lions defeated the 49ers 10-7 on Feb. 6. Freshman Rosanna Tomiuk and junior Lindsey O'Farriell each scored in the first frame for the Lions as they trailed 3-2 after one. However, LMU would get only two more goals the rest of the way. The 49ers took a 5-3 lead at the break after sophomore Dora Szabolcsi scored in the second frame. LMU would not score in the third as Long Beach State took a 6-3 lead into the final frame. LMU 5, UCD 4 - LMU earned a 5-4 win over 12th-ranked UC Davis in the first day of play in the 2005 Gaucho Invitational on Friday afternoon. Freshman Christine Robinson broke a 4-4 tie in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to lift the Lions to the win. The Lions took an early 1-0 lead on Dora Szabolcsi's first period goal. UC Davis would answer with a pair of goals in the second period and Lindsey O'Farriell sent the game into halftime tied 2-2. Both teams would score a goal each in the third frame, including a four-meter by Stacia Peterson. In the fourth quarter the Lions took a 4-3 lead on a goal by Jessica Conner. Davis would answer to set-up Robinson's game winner.
In the Rankings
With a seventh place finish in the UCSB Invitational, the Lions dropped two spots to number seven in the latest national poll. The Lions started the season ranked fourth in the nation, its highest preseason ranking in school history. The preseason ranking follows the Lions No. 2 ranking to end the 2004 season. The number two ranking was the highest final ranking by any team in LMU history. The Lions started the 2004 season ranked fifth nationally and closed the season by winning 20 of their last 22 games to close the regular season at No. 5. The win over Stanford in the semifinals and strong showing in the championship game pushed the Lions to the highest final ranking for any team in LMU history at number two. The Lions finished with 93 points in the final poll by the American Water Polo Coaches Association. They have been in the national rankings every week since 2001.
Going For Six
It was quite the return for sophomore Katie Hicks. The second-year player from San Luis Obispo sat out the 2004 season and her first weekend of action back on the Lions' roster was a big one. Hicks scored six goals in an impressive 10-7 win over fifth-ranked Long Beach State on Saturday. The six tallies ties the single game record set by Cara Schindler on March 7, 1998 in a 14-0 win over Chapman. Schindler set the record in the very first season of collegiate water polo at LMU. Over the years there have been five goals scored in 13 games, including one by Hicks in her freshman season. In 2003, Hicks led the team with 54 goals, the sixth most in a single season in program history. Her team-high 18 goals this season has moved her into a tie for 9th all-time in career goals with 72. Hicks sat out the Lions last five games with a sholder injury.
Top Notch Scorers
Despite the loss of four key seniors, the Lions return their top two scorers from the last two seasons. Junior Stacia Peterson led the Lions to the NCAA title game last season with 62 goals, the second most in a single season in program history. Sophomore Katie Hicks led the team with 54 in 2003, giving the Lions a pair of 50-goal scorers in their arsenal. Peterson has 16 goals this season, good for third on the team, trailing freshman Christine Robinson and Katie Hicks. Peterson now has 95 in her career, ranked sixth all-time at LMU. Jessica Conner, the only four-year senior on the squad has also seen her share of goals in the last four seasons, ranking seventh all-time with 85 goals. She has six this season.
Show Stopper
Sophomore Rachel Riddell, who while playing goalie earned a win in the 2004 Olympics for Team Canada of the United States, has started to show why she is an Olympian. In the five games last week, she made 10 or more saves in four of those contests. She had a season-high 14 in the win over San Jose State and has now made 108 saves this season to rank second in the nation in saves. Riddell now has 429 saves and a goals against average of 4.11 while at LMU.
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