May 12, 2007

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Los Alamitos, CA (May 12) - Less than 20 hours after suffering a heartbreaking one-goal setback in the quarterfinals of the 2007 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships, seventh-ranked Loyola Marymount responded with a record 20-10 win over Wagner in the first consolation semifinal on Saturday at the Joint Forces Training Base.

The Lions set the program's record for goals in an NCAA tournament game with 20, snapping the previous high of 16 they set against Wagner on May 14, 2005 in Michigan. Sophomore Nicole Hughes equaled senior Stacia Peterson's record for goals in a game during the NCAA tournament with five.

As for Peterson, she added three in the win to give her 19 NCAA tournament goals in her career, an unofficial NCAA record. Senior Cara Colton added three goals, senior Katie Hicks also had a hat-trick and Crisara Abrams added a pair.

"We came out with good energy and had good leadership to respond after our tough loss last night," said Head Coach John Loughran. "We came out shooting well and it set the tone."

The Lions jumped out to a 2-0 lead after Peterson and Hughes scored early. However, Wagner tied the game at 3-3 with 2:16 remaining in the first quarter. The Lions then scored six unanswered to take control of the game.

With the 10-5 lead at the break, the Lions put the game away in the third quarter. They outscored Wagner 7-1 in the frame, including all three of Colton's goals in the frame.

"We were not upbeat coming into today's game but we understood that we need to respond after a tough loss," said Colton. "We wanted to show, despite the result yesterday, that we deserve to be among the top teams."

LMU improves to 27-6 on the season and will face Hartwick in the fifth place game at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday. The game can be heard on Lions' All-Access through LMULions.com.