Oct. 11, 2006

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Just Briefly
The Loyola Marymount University men's water polo team moved up a spot in the national rankings to No. 6 this week thanks to a pair of wins over ranked teams, including then No. 5 Pacific. The ranking will be put to the test once again in a five-game week, including a home date against Gannon on Thursday, Oct. 12 and then a tough tour at the SoCal Invitational on Oct. 14-15 at USC. The Lions will play No. 13 Pepperidne and No. 2 Cal in the first day at the McDonalds Swim Stadium.

Looking at the Lions
Loyola Marymount is 9-5 on the season and jumped in the rankings thanks to a 7-5 win over then No. 11 UC Irvine and a 12-6 win over then No. 5 Pacific. The Lions, who the last four seasons have featured the nation's leading goal scorer in graduated All-American Endre Rex Kiss, featured a balanced attack in 2006 that is actually scoring the most goals in that same time span. Senior Brian McShane leads a three-senior attack with 23 goals. Seniors Cutberto Hernandez and Ben Easton have scored 18 each. Sophomore Julien Lormant is fourth on the team with 15 goals, tied with senior Matt Reynolds. The Lions have scored 135 goals in 14 games this season, good for just under 10 per contest. Through 14 games and the end of September last season the Lions had scored just 91 goals for an average of 7.5 per contest.

In Net
The backbone of the Lions defense for the last three years has been senior Ian Elliott. And that has not changed this season. Elliott is in his fourth and final season of collegiate water polo at LMU and is a three-time first-team All-WWPA selection. In 14 games this season he has already made 178 saves, giving him an average of 12.7 saves per game. His saves per game totals rank tops in the nation while he is third in total saves. This season he has had double-digit saves in 11 of the Lions' 14 games this season. With 17 saves in the win over Pacific, he now has 1,001 saves in his career. His career goals against average is 6.87. He finished his junior year with 813 career saves and a goals against average of 6.94. In 2005 he finished the regular season among the top-five nationally in saves with 304 while allowing just 6.64 goals per game. He played in every game and appeared in net for 135 of the Lions' 140 quarters.

A Familiar Face
Gannon will visit the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Thursday, Oct. 12 for a 3:00 p.m. match-up. It will be the first meeting between the two programs but that will not keep them from being familiar with one another. Gannon is coached by Kyle Witt, a four-time All-WWPA performer for the Lions. Gannon is 5-8 heading on their trip to Southern California where they will play Cal Baptist and Whittier before facing the Lions. They will close the trip with Cal Lutheran.

SoCal
This weekend marks the 2006 SoCal Invitational. The traditionally loaded tournament will feature 12 teams, all ranked in the top-20. The 7th-ranked Lions are in Group B with No. 13 Pepperdine and No. 2 Cal. The Lions will face rival Pepperdine for the second time on the season at 8 a.m. before facing the Bears at 12 noon. Both games will be at the McDonalds Swim Stadium. The other groups include: Group A - #1 USC, #8 UCSB and #11 UC Irvine; Group C - #4 UCLA, #5 Stanford, #14 Long Beach St.; and Group D - #3 UC San Diego, #7 Pacific and #16 Air Force.

Last Week Recap
LMU 12, Pacific 6 - Loyola Marymount used a nine-goal first half to deliver the knock-out punch as the seventh-ranked Lions cruised to a 12-6 win over fifth-ranked Pacific in men's collegiate water polo action on Friday afternoon at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center. The Lions scored five first quarter goals and four more in the first five minutes of the second quarter to go up 9-1 just 13 minutes into the game. They would never look back as they improve to 9-5 on the season while Pacific falls to 10-6. LMU All-American goalie Ian Elliott equaled his career high for the third time this season with 17 saves as Pacific managed just three goals through three quarters. In the Lions two wins over top-11 competition, Elliott made 33 saves and allowed just 10 goals. It was a reverse from the first meeting between the two teams on Sept. 2 as Pacific held on in a 13-12 shootout. Senior Ben Easton had four goals to lead the Lions while sophomore Julien Lormant added a hat-trick. Five other Lions tallied goals in the win for LMU. Pacific was led by Duje Kaurloto with a pair.
LMU 7, UC Irvine 5 - Seventh-ranked Loyola Marymount University jumped out to a 3-0 lead over UC Irvine and never trailed as the Lions defeat the 11th-ranked Anteaters 7-5 in a non-conference collegiate men's water polo contest at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center Wednesday. The Lions earned goals from seniors Brian McShane, Ben Easton and Cutberto Hernandez to jump out to a 3-0 lead early in the second half. The early lead would hold throughout as the Lions improve to 8-5 on the season while UC Irvine falls to 4-8. McShane, Hernandez and sophomore Julien Lormant each scored twice and senior goalie Ian Elliott gathered 16 saves as the Lions snapped a three-game skid to UC Irvine. For Elliott, it was his 10th double digit save effort of the season. Down 3-0, UC Irvine fought back to within one goal at the half, 3-2, on second period scores from Taylor Wells and Colin Mello. However, the Lions scored the games next three goals to take a commanding 6-2 lead. In the three-goal run, Hernandez scored with 3:51 remaining in the third period while Lormant capped the quarter with a goal at the 1:21 mark. McShane completed the run with 6:12 on the clock in the fourth quarter. With the score at 6-3, Lormant scored his second with 1:43 remaining to ice it.

In the Records
Senior Brian McShane McShane scored 20 of his 37 goals in the final 12 games of the 2005 season. With his 23 goals in the first 14 games of the 2006 season, he has now scored 43 goals in the last 26 games. He has 90 goals in his career at LMU, ranking him in a tie for 16th in LMU history. Also in the rankings is senior Cutberto Hernandez with 59 assists to rank 8th all-time. Ian Elliott with 111 games played and Matt Reynolds with 107 are ranked 7th and 10th all-time. Elliott and Reynolds are also 6th and 8th, respectively, in steals with 91 and 90.

In the NCAAs
The Lions made their fourth trip to the NCAA tournament in 2005. It was their third straight and fourth in five years as they made trips in 2001, 2003, and 2004. They have finished third every year. In the first trip in 2001, they fell to UCLA, 7-5, and then defeated UMass, 14-6. The last three trips the Lions have faced Stanford, falling 14-8 in 2003, 14-6 in 2004 and then in a heartbreaker in 2005, 7-6. They rebounded every time, defeating Navy in 2003, 10-7, Princeton in 2004, 6-5, and St. Francis in 2005, 10-6.

Third Time is the Charm
Men's water polo won their third straight conference championship by winning the 2005 WWPA Championship, which LMU hosted on Nov. 17-19. They are just the fourth program in LMU Athletics' history to win three or more consecutive championships. They join women's volleyball (1994, 95, 96), baseball (1998, 99, 00) and women's water polo (2001, 02, 03, 04, 05).

The WWPA Title
Loyola Marymount junior Brian McShane scored his fourth goal of the game with 1:28 remaining to lift the Lions to a 7-6 win over UC San Diego in the title game of the 2005 Western Water Polo Association Men's Championship on Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center in front of a standing room only crowd of 1,010. This was the fifth time in six years UCSD and LMU met in the title game of the WWPA tournament and the Lions improve to 3-2 in those games. With the teams resolving nothing through three quarters and tied at 4-4 going into the fourth, UCSD scored back-to-back goals from Brandon Borso and Jonathan Hopkins to take a 6-4 lead and the momentum with 5:51 remaining. The Lions and McShane were not finished, as they would score three unanswered for the title. McShane cut the lead to one with his third goal of the game, putting in a backhand from two-meter to make it 6-5 with 3:39. Ben Easton then tied the game for the third time on the day with 2:50 on the clock to set-up McShane's game winner. Ian Elliott finished the game with 15 saves and the Lions' defense shutout the Tritons in the second to tie the game at the break 3-3.

All-WWPA
Four members from the LMU men's water polo team earned All-WWPA honors in 2005. Ian Elliott, Endre Rex-Kiss, Matt Reynolds and Ben Easton all took home honors. For the junior Elliott, it is his third consecutive first-team All-WWPA selection, as the goalie has earned every year of his career. The two-time All-American Rex-Kiss earned his second straight first-team selection. Claiming their first all-conference honors was Reynolds and Easton. Reynolds earned second-team honors while Easton was an honorable mention.

More All-Americans
LMU earned three individuals on the 2005 American Water Polo Coaches All-American teams after winning their third straight Western Water Polo Association championship and fourth in five years. Senior Endre Rex-Kiss earned second-team honors for the third straight year as he becomes just the second player in program history to do so. Rex-Kiss was joined by juniors Ian Elliott and Brian McShane as All-Americans this season as they earned honorable mention honors. The three selections to this year's All-America teams is the second time in program history three have earned honors, tying the 2001 squad.