Feb. 21, 2006

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The LMU men's soccer spring schedule is in full swing, as the Lions have had a busy February. The Lions have played three games so far this spring, and will play eight more. Highlights of the upcoming schedule include a February 25th matchup with with the LA Galaxy, and a game with 2005 NCAA Runner-up New Mexico.

Click here for a photo gallery from the Alumni Game!

Los Angeles, Calif., - Sunday, Feb. 12, 2006 - On a beautiful Sunday morning, the Lions welcomed some familiar faces to Sullivan Field for the Annual Alumni game and 2005 Season Awards Banquet. The game vs the Alumni was a 70 minute affair and featured over thirty former LMU players. The current edition of the Lions wasted little time in showing their talent as Junior Ybarra tallied the first Lion goal at the 12:41 mark with a sizzling left footed effort from the top of the penalty area. David Niemeyer added to the score line just fifteen minutes later from a feed from Diego Souza. Forward Aneesh Rana scored two goals in the span of four minutes, finishing unassisted at the 37:15 mark and then finishing a fantastic cross from Souza. Joe Stoakley then provided the final Lion goal with less than 10 minutes remaining as he slotted home a nice feed from Rana. The lone Alumni goal came from Mike Erush (Class of 2003), who beat Patrick Sampson with a low shot through traffic from 20 yards.

LMU 5-1 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT ALUMNI
SULLIVAN FIELD - LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2006 - 11:00 A.M. PT
SCORING SUMMARY:
LMU - Junior Ybarra (Trini Gomez) 13
LMU - David Neimeyer (Diego Souza) 29
LMU - Aneesh Rana 37
LMU - Aneesh Rana (Diego Souza) 41
LMU Alumni - Mike Erush ('03) 53
LMU - Joe Stoakley (Aneesh Rana) 61

LMU STARTING LINEUP: Patrick Sampson - Michael Ogletree, Bobby Burling, Matthew Mejia, Stephen Carlson, Junior Ybarra, Diego Souza, Jay Singh, Trini Gomez, David Niemeyer, Tyler Mehl.

LMU Alumni STARTING LINEUP: Shaun Kalnasy ('03) - Pat Choate ('98), Jeff Kovar ('03), Matt Kovar ('05), Andre Childers ('99), Marc Duncan ('98), Mike Erush ('03), Andres Murriagui ('03), Claudio Basaez ('02), Sean Rhynard ('04), Armando Melendez ('05).

The LMU Men's Soccer team celebrated the 2005 season at the Lions' annual team banquet Sunday after the alumni game at Tony P's Dockside Grill in Marina Del Rey. Keynote speaker at the event was former Lion Jeff Kovar ('03), currently in medical school at Loyola-Chicago, who spoke about how LMU Men's Soccer has played a role in shaping his burgeoning career.

Junior midfielder Junior Ybarra was honored as LMU's 2005 Team MVP. In addition, junior Matthew Mejia was named the Defensive MVP as well as being named Co-Most Inspirational along with goalkeeper Robert Flores. Trini Gomez garnered Offensive MVP honors.

Also earning team awards were Rookie of the Year Jawaan Delaney who shared the Most Improved Player award with Michael Ogletree. Senior Armando Melendez was the Coaches' Award recipient.

Team awards are voted upon by team members.

The 2005 senior class of Melendez and Jimmy Burling were honored and offered some parting words.

2005-06 LMU Men's Soccer Team Awards
MVP Team- Junior Ybarra
MVP Defense - Matthew Mejia
MVP Offense - Trini Gomez
Co-Most Inspirational - Robert Flores and Matthew Mejia
Rookie of the Year - Jawaan Delaney
Co-Most Improved - Jawaan Delaney and Michael Ogletree
Coaches' Award- Armando Melendez

Los Angeles, Calif., - Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006 - With goals by Francisco Mendoza, Antonio Martínez and two by Matt Taylor, Chivas USA defeated Loyola Marymount 4-1 at The Home Depot Center in the Lions' first scrimmage of the 2006 spring season. LMU took an early lead with a third-minute goal from Tyler Mehl, who sprinted onto a Bobby Burling flick of Stephen Carlson's long service.

Chivas USA pulled even through Mendoza twelve minutes later, before sealing the win with Martínez' goal in the 63rd and Taylor's tallies in the 75th and 78th. During the match, played in two 40-minute halves on the stadium's main field, Chivas USA Head Coach Bob Bradley made wholesale changes in the 60th minute; in all, more than 30 Chivas USA players and trialists saw action during the match.

CHIVAS USA 4-1 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT U.
PRESEASON SCRIMMAGE
THE HOME DEPOT CENTER - CARSON, CALIFORNIA
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2006 - 10:00 A.M. PT
SCORING SUMMARY:
LMU - Tyler Mehl (Bobby Burling), 3
CHV - Francisco Mendoza (Ante Razov), 15
CHV - Antonio Martínez (Matt Taylor), 63
CHV - Matt Taylor (Antonio Martínez), 75
CHV - Matt Taylor, 78

CHIVAS USA STARTING LINEUP: Sergio García - Ramón Ramírez, Claudio Suárez, Carlos Llamosa, Ezra Hendrickson - Francisco Mendoza, Jesse Marsch, Francisco Palencia, Sacha Kljestan - Juan Pablo García, Ante Razov. HEAD COACH: Bob Bradley.

LMU STARTING LINEUP:
Miguel Benítez - Matthew Mejia, Stephen Carlson, Bo Miller, Michael Ogletree - Jawaan Delaney, Junior Ybarra, Diego Souza, Trini Gómez - Bobby Burling, Tyler Mehl. HEAD COACH: Paul Krumpe.

After the Chivas game, the Lions jumped back onto the 405 Freeway and returned to Westchester for an afternoon match against Harbor Junior College from near by Wilmington, California. The game, also an 80 minute affair, ended with 1-0 score line that did not favor the Lions.

The visitors from Wilmington put a bit of a damper on the day as they broke the 0-0 score line with a goal at the 78:00 minute mark. The Lions were unable to clear defensively and Harbor went on the board with a shot that slipped through a mass of bodies in the 18 yard box and found it's way into the far corner, beating Lion goalkeeper Robert Flores.

Against Harbor, the Lions created several chances in the second half, especially over the last 10 minutes of the match, but were unable to capitalize. Patrick Sampson, Andrew Kristof, Kaj Iverson all turned in credible performances in their LMU debuts.

When asked about the day's performance, LMU Head Coach Paul Krumpe offered, "The Chivas game was a good performance until Chivas brought on a fresh team at the 60 minute mark. We were unable to adjust to the change of pace and energy at that point. Overall, I'm proud of the effort our team showed today in playing two games against very different opponents. We got to see a lot of guys in pressure situations that we had not had the opportunity to see in the fall. There were a lot of positives for us to take away from today. Now we have to take these lessons and apply them."

HARBOR JC 1-0 LOYOLA MARYMOUNT
SULLIVAN FIELD - LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2006 - 3:00 P.M. PT
SCORING SUMMARY:
HJC - 78

LMU STARTING LINEUP: Patrick Sampson - Kaj Iverson, Bo Miller, LJ Reinhardt, Stephen Carlson - Garrett Maloney, Diego Souza, Jay Singh, Ashi Kaviani - David Niemeyer, Tyler Mehl.

HEAD COACH: Paul Krumpe.

The Lions remaining games for the 2006 Schedule are:
25 February vs L.A. Galaxy Reserves at 10 am at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA
25 February vs Cal State University-Dominguez Hills at 2 pm at the Home Depot Center in Carson, CA
18 March vs Cal State University-Fullerton at 10 am at Fullerton, CA
18 March vs Surf U-18 at 3 pm at Sullivan Field
25 March vs the University of San Diego at USD
25 March vs San Diego State University at USD
1 April vs New Mexico at College Showcase in Temecula, CA; Time TBA
1 April vs Michigan at College Showcase in Temecula, CA; Time TBA