Oct. 8, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

After winning thier first two games against unranked opponents on the season by a combined score of 36-6, the sixth-ranked Loyola Marymount men's water polo team will get back to serious business when they play five games on the week, all slated to come against the nation's top-15. It starts with a trip to No. 2 UCLA on Thursday, Oct. 9 at 4 p.m. LMU will then co-host the 2008 SoCal Men's Water Polo Tournament, which features 14 of the nation's top-20 teams. The Lions, who are co-hosting with Pepperdine, will play No. 11 Pacific at 12 noon at the Burns Aquatics Center on Saturday, Oct. 11. SoCals runs through Sunday, Oct. 12.

INSIDE THE LIONS
After their two convincing wins over UC Santa Cruz and Harvard at home last week, LMU ran their record to 9-5 and have won four straight. On the season 12 of the Lions' 14 games have come against the top-20 and 10 of those 14 have against the top-10. The Lions' five setbacks have been by a combined 12 goals, two coming to current No. 1 USC. Freshman Edgaras Asajavicius leads the Lions in goals with 24. Senior Tim Hummel continues to have a break-out final season as he is second with 19 goals while leading the team with 32 kickouts. Following Hummel in goals scored is sophomore Tibor Forai with 17. The Lions offensive attack has been balanced as seven players have scored 10 or more goals. In net, sophomore Andy Stevens has also been solid with 129 saves and a goals against average of 6.90.

NATIONAL STATS
The Lions enter the week ranked ninthth nationally in defense, allowing 94 goals. They lead the conference with just 6.71 goals allowed per game. Andy Stevens is a big reason for that as he ranks 11th nationally in saves with 129, 10.32 per game. Offensively, Edgaras Asajavicius is 37th nationally with his 24 goals.

UP NEXT
The Lions will face No. 2 UCLA for the first time this season as the Bruins enter the game 5-1 on the season. This will be the 17th meeting between the two programs.

SOCAL
For the first time the Lions will host one of the premier water polo tournaments in the country when the SoCal Men's Water Polo Tournament comes to Los Angeles this weekend. The Lions will co-host the 16-team, two day tournament with Pepperdine on Oct. 11-12. Eight games will be played each day at both the Raleigh Runnels Aquatic Center on the campus of Pepperdine in Malibu and at the Burns Aquatics Center on LMU's Westchester campus. On Saturday the Lions will host Brackets B and C while hosting the consolation bracket on Sunday. LMU is the No. 2 seed in Bracket C with No. 1 seed Stanford, No. 3 Pacific and No. 4 Princeton. LMU will face 11th-ranked Tigers at 12 noon while third-ranked Stanford faces 15th-ranked Princeton at 10:40 a.m. Bracket B features No. 1 seed UCLA facing No. 4 seed Bucknell at 8 a.m. and No. 2 seed Long Beach State facing No. 3 seed UC San DIego at 9:20 a.m. The schedule for the 2008 SoCals:

Saturday, October 11, 2008: (Raleigh Runnels Aquatic Center)
GAME 1- 8:00 a.m. USC vs. Pomona-Pitzer
GAME 3- 9:20 a.m. UC Irvine vs. UCSB
GAME 5- 10:40 a.m. Pep. vs. Redlands
GAME 7- 12:00 p.m. Cal vs. St. Francis
GAME 9- 1:20 p.m. Loser #1 vs. Loser #3
GAME 11- 2:40 p.m. Winner #1 vs. Win. #3
GAME 13- 4:00 p.m. Loser #5 vs. Loser #7
GAME 15- 5:20 p.m. Win #5 vs. Win #7
(Burns Aquatic Center) B & C Brackets
GAME 2 - 8:00 a.m. UCLA vs. Bucknell
GAME 4 - 9:20 a.m. Long Beach St. vs. UCSD
GAME 6 - 10:40 a.m. Stanford vs. Princeton
GAME 8- 12:00 p.m. LMU vs. Pacific
GAME 10- 1:20 p.m. Loser #2 vs. Loser #4
GAME 12- 2:40 p.m. Winner #2 vs. Winner #4
GAME 14- 4:00 p.m. Loser #6 vs. Loser #8
GAME 16- 5:20 p.m. Winner #6 vs. Winner #8

Sunday, October 12, 2008:
(Raleigh Runnels Aquatic Center)
GAME 17- 8:00 a.m. Loser #12 vs. Loser #16
GAME 19- 9:20 a.m. Loser #11 vs. Loser #15
GAME 21- 10:40 a.m. Winner #11 vs. Winner #15
GAME 23- 12:00 p.m. Winner #12 vs. Winner #16
7th Place- 1:20 p.m. Loser #17 vs. Loser #19
5th Place- 2:40 p.m. Winner #17 vs. Winner #19
3rd Place- 4:00 p.m. Loser #21 vs. Loser #23
Champ- 5:20 p.m. Winner #21 vs. Winner #23
(Burns Aquatic Center)
GAME 18- 8:00 a.m. Loser #10 vs. Loser #14
GAME 20- 9:20 a.m. Loser #9 vs. Loser #13
GAME 22- 10:40 a.m. Winner #10 vs. Winner #14
GAME 24- 12:00 p.m. Winner #9 vs. Winner #13
15th Place- 1:20 p.m. Loser #18 vs. Loser #20
13th Place- 2:40 p.m. Winner #18 vs. Winner #20
11th Place- 4:00 p.m. Loser #22 vs. Loser #24
9th Place- 5:20 p.m. Winner #22 vs. Winner #24

SENIOR LEADERS
Leading the Lions in 2008 are the senior quartet of Julien Lormant, Tim Hummel, Mark Milovic and Tim Heafner. The four enter the week playing in a combined 382 games and accounting for a combined 223 goals. Hummel will play his 110th game against UCLA on Thursday while Lormant will be in game No. 107, Milovic in game No. 93 and Heafner in game No. 79.

LEFT SIDE, RIGHT SIDE
The Lions feature an international flavor in their one-two punch offensively as Tibor Forai and Edgaras Asajavicius are rejoined as Lions in 2008. The two played in development team action in the summer of 2007 and were considered a dangerous combination. Forai with his all-around play on offense and defense as a right-hander scored 50 goals as a freshman and was second on the team in steals. The pair have combined for 41 goals, including a team-high 24 by Asajavicius. The freshman broke out with a three-goal performance in the triple overtime game against USC and had another three goals against the Waves, UC Irvine and UC San Diego. Forai is third on the team in goals with 17 but has missed four games with a broken nose. He leads the team in assists with nine and has 10 steals.