Sept. 1, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Just Briefly
The Loyola Marymount University men's water polo finished the 2004 season ranked eighth in the nation after winning their third Western Water Polo Association championship in the last four years. The Lions will begin their title defense when they travel to the UC San Diego Triton Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 3-4. LMU will open with 10th-ranked UC Santa Barabara at 2:35 p.m.
The Triton
After taking a year hiatus from the UC San Diego Triton Invitational to go to the Navy tournament a year ago, the Lions return for the seventh time in school history.The Lions are the top seed in Group D and will open group play against 10th-ranked UC Santa Barbara at 2:35 p.m. and then follow with Pomona in the final game of the day at 6:55 p.m. Also in this year's tournament playing in Group A is No. 7 Pepperdine, No. 19 Air Force and Santa Clara. In Group B is No. 4 UC Irvine, No. 13 UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz. In the final group, Group C, is No. 12 UC San Diego, No. 14 Redlands and No. 18 Whittier. The Lions have a record of 15-9 in six previous appearances in the Triton Invite.
The NCAAs
The Lions made their third appearance in the NCAA tournament, splitting their pair of games with a semifinal loss to host Stanford, 14-6, and then defeated third-seed Princeton 6-5. The Lions have a record of 3-3 in tournament games, finishing third all three years. In the win over Princeton the Tigers took an early 1-0 that would not hold. Brian McShane scored the first goal with a spin lob landing in the back of the goal with 3:30 left in the first and Endre Rex-Kiss continued to be the scoring threat with the first of his three on an assist from Pat Reilly, ending the first up one goal. The second quarter proved no different as Reilly put the Lions at a 3-2 lead with an outside lob shot from 5-meters. Rex-Kiss and Tyler Swanson would both score in the third to give LMU a 5-3 lead. Princeton closed the third period with another goal to put pressure on the Lions as the score was 5-4 heading into the fourth. Rex-Kiss ended his season with a record setting 83 goals, raising his career record to 193 goals, tying for third in all time career 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. In addition, the Lions earn the WWPA's automatic-qualifying berth in the National Collegiate Championships, held at Stanford University in December. The Bulldogs took an early 2-0 lead on goals by Sam Barker and Grant Culton. The Lions would cut the lead in half when Cutberto Hernandez scored with 4:21 remaining in the half. Then midway through the second quarter, Endre Rex-Kiss converted a four-meter penalty shot to tie the game at 2-2. Senior Trevor Wagner gave the Lions their first lead when he scored on a rebound and putback with 2:39 remaining on an extra-man goal. Both teams locked into a defensive battle for the remainder of the half, as the Lions held its 3-2 lead into the break. Redlands' Spencer Dinnean re-tied the game at 3-3 with his 6-on-5 goal at the 5:22 mark in the third. McShane answered back about a minute later, giving the Lions the lead for good. LMU shut down Redlands offense in the fourth quarter, helped by Elliott's heroics in nets and a fine steal at four-meters by Rex-Kiss. McShane and Sean Wimer helped the Lions pull away to the final margin.
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.
An Impact Transfer
As for sophomore Brian McShane, he made his presence felt in his first year at LMU. In addition to his 30 goals, second on the squad, McShane anchored the two-meter spot for the Lions. He drew 85 kickouts on the season and had 21 steals. McShane got hot to end the season for the Lions, scoring six goals in the WWPA tournament and a goal in the final 10 games heading into the NCAA tournament. He added a goal in the tournament. He transferred from Air Force last season.
Stopper
Sophomore goalie Ian Elliott showed why he is one of the nation's best by leading the Lions to another WWPA title. Elliott made huge saves late in the season for the Lions, posting 266 saves on the year with just 202 goals against. His goals against average is 7.15 on the season. He has 12 games with 10 or more saves, including 10 in the win over Redlands in the WWPA title game and 15 in the win over Princeton in the NCAA tournament. In that contest, he made six saves in the fourth quarter to protect the lead. He had a career-high 17 saves in the win over Air Force on Nov. 6 and had 15 more in the win over UC Davis on Oct. 30. In a stretch of seven games from Oct. 24-Nov. 6, he made 83 saves.
Explosion
Loyola Marymount men's water polo junior Endre Rex-Kiss was named second-team All-American by the American Water Polo Coaches Association. It is the second straight season Rex-Kiss has earned All-American honors. The third-year player finished the season with 83 goals, the first player to have more than 70 in the non-two goal era. He had a record-breaking season and was named WWPA Player of the Year to follow his second-team AWPCA All-American selection a year ago. Rex-Kiss ranks fourth all-time with 188 career goals, fifth with 79 career assists and fifth with 98 career steals. He finished the season hitting 46.1 percent of his shots, scoring 35 extra-man goals on the season He played all 30 games and scored in 28 of those 30 and 19 were multi-goal games and 14 of those were with three goals or more. He had five five-goal games, including Iona (9-4-04), Santa Clara (9-10-04), Air Force (9-18-04), UCLA (10-9-04) and UC Santa Cruz (10-30-04). He scored the game winner in sudden-victory overtime in the semifinals of the WWPA Tournament against UC Davis (11-19-04) and also led team with 28 assists and 32 steals. He helped the Lions to their second WWPA title in the last three seasons and a third place finish in the 2004 NCAA Men's Water Polo National Championship, posting a 21-11 record.
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 134 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. In 2001, they won their first-ever WWPA championship, going 15-14 overall, and earning a bid to the NCAA Championship. That team also finished third after a win over UMass. Adding to his impressive resume, Loughran has won six WWPA Coach of the Year honors, four in women's water polo (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) and two in men's water polo (2001, 2003). He has posted an overall record of 134-105 (.560) 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 Loyola Marymount University aquatics, the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center has seen eight championships and the two water polo teams combine for 92 wins in just five short seasons. The Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center opened in August of 2000. The Burns Center is home to the on campus recreation center, which sees thousands of community members, students, faculty and staff through its doors each day. Showing that it is one of the finest facilities in the country, LMU hosted the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship in 2002. Both days of the event were sold out with a crowd of more than 2,600 for the championship. The Lions have thrived in the state-of-the-art facility, earning a record of 92-25 in five seasons. The men's team went 6-3 in 2004 and have compiled a record of 41-17 (.706) during its stay at the Center. As for the women's team, they won their first 21 games at the Burns Aquatics Center and have posted a 51-8 record (.864) in four seasons, going 10-2 in 2005. Overall, the two teams have combined for eight conference titles while the facility has been called home. One of the premier aquatics facilities in Southern California, the Burns recreation center pool is heated and features an advanced deck-level drainage system.
