Nov. 17, 2007

USAFA, Colo. - With the score knotted at 7-7, Loyola Marymount scored four unanswered to deliver a 12-8 knock-out punch over 15th-ranked Santa Clara in the first semifinal at the 2007 Western Water Polo Association Men's Water Polo Championship at the Air Force Academy on Saturday afternoon. The win sends the Lions back to the title game for the eighth straight season.

The third-seeded Lions received three goals from both Mark Milovic and Tibor Forai to lift them a game closer to their fifth title in seven seasons. The Lions will face top-seed UC Davis, who defeated host Air Force 13-6 in the other semifinal, at 2:00 p.m. (PT) on Sunday. The winner will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship at Stanford in two weeks.

LMU jumped out early, posting a 5-2 lead after one frame and then went into the locker room at the break with a 7-5 lead. Santa Clara, the No. 2 seed who defeated the Lions 8-7 in overtime at the Burns Aquatics Center on Oct. 26, scored two straight to open the third to tie the game at 7-7 with 6:13 remaining.

That's when the Lions responded, scoring the next four goals for an 11-7 lead. Both teams would score a goal each in the final minutes for the final margin. The Lions improve to 12-15 overall while Santa Clara falls to 17-12.

LMU and the Aggies faced each other three times this season with UCD taking all three by a combined total of five points.

Box Score:
No. 3 Loyola Marymount 12, No. 2 Santa Clara 8
LMU - 5 - 2 - 3 - 2 --- 12
Santa Clara - 2 - 3 - 2 - 1 --- 8
LMU Scoring: Mark Milovic 3, Tibor Forai 3, Andrew Aki 2, Ran Fair 2, Julien Lormant, Rory Kelly.
Santa Clara Scoring: Moore, Early, Fitch, Hendrickson, Hobbs, Pogetti, Detoy, Farrell