Feb. 22, 2007

Los Angeles, CA (Feb. 22) - The seventh-ranked Loyola Marymount women's water polo team earned a 9-7 win over 16th-ranked Michigan at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Thursday afternoon. Playing in a consistent rain, the Lions got four goals form senior Stacia Peterson and a career-best 12 saves from Kaylee Caster to improve to 6-1 on the season.

The Lions' defense and Caster held Michigan scoreless in the second period to propel the Lions to their sixth straight win. Five other Lions scored while Michigan falls to 9-4 on the year.

After the first period saw the three ties and two lead changes, LMU broke the game open with five unanswered goals. The run started at the 6:58 mark when Peterson scored her second 6-on-5 goal on the day to make it 4-3 LMU.Cara Colton and Sarah Hamilton then scored goals on back-to-back possessions to give LMU a 6-3 at the break.

The run would continue into the third frame when Peterson scored her third goal of the day with 4:44 remaining in the period. Senior Katie Hicks capped the run with another 6-on-5 goal at the 3:52 mark, making it 8-3 LMU.

Michigan would cut the lead to just two goals with three straight tallies of their own, including Mary Chatigny's goal with 21 seconds left in the period. Peterson and the Lions weren't done, as she scored 12 seconds later to make it 9-6.

Caster would make four saves in the fourth period to allow Michigan just one goal for the final margin.

Up next for the Lions will be the UC Irvine Invitational on Saturday and Sunday. The Lions are one of 16 teams in the tournament, all of them ranked in the nation's top-20. LMU will open with Western Water Polo Association rival UC Davis on Saturday at 10:15 a.m.