Oct. 14, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

The LMU men's water polo team wrapped up a stretch of 11 straight against ranked opponents and return home from the demanding UCI Invitational to take on Western Water Polo Association foe Claremont at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center Thursday, Oct. 15 at 4 p.m. The Lions have won 24 straight against WWPA foes and are 7-0 this season.

INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions are off to their best start in school history at 12-4 overall and are 7-0 in the WWPA, running their winning streak against conference opponents to 24. They defeated No. 11 UC San Diego for the third time this season, winning 10-6 in the first game of the UCI Invitational last weekend. The Lions faced four ranked teams in the tournament, going 2-2 in the process. The setbacks to No. 7 Pepperdine and No. 4 Cal saw the Lions drop to one spot in the polls to No. 6. They finished a stretch of 11 straight against ranked opponents, running their record to 10-4 this season against the top-20. Defense has been the key as they have allowed just 94 goals this season. That is just 5.88 goals per game and is ranked third nationally. Junior goalie Andy Stevens is a big reason why, ranking fourth nationally in saves with 198 (second with 13.42 saves per game) while allowing just 6.03 goals per game. Offensively the Lions have been balanced, with sophomore Edgaras Asajavicius leading the way with 32 goals. Andrew Aki has been an all-around force for the Lions, ranking second with 21 goals while adding a team-best 16 assists, 39 steals and 31 field blocks.

UP NEXT
The Lions have just one contest this week, taking on WWPA foe Claremont on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 4 p.m. LMU is 15-18 against the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps schools. The Lions have not lost to CMS Oct. 24, 1998 and have not played them since Oct. 31, 2003, a 17-6 win by the Lions. Claremont is 7-9 heading into the game Thursday.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Andy Stevens was named the WWPA Male Player of the Week for Sept. 23 after leading the Lions to a fifth place finish at the NorCal Invitational. The All-American goalie finished with 55 saves in four games, including a record 21 in the sudden-death overtime win over No. 8 UC Irvine. He added 12 saves in the win over No. 17 UC San Diego and 17 in the win over No. 6 UC Santa Barbara. On the weekend, he allowed just 5.75 goals per game. After 54 saves in four games at the UCI Invite, including 21 against UCSB, he has 198 saves and has allowed just 89 goals on the season, good for a 6.08 goals against average. Stevens has had 11 games with 10 or more saves.

STRONG EFFORTS
Sophomore Edgaras Asajavicius helped LMU to a 3-1 record at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational by scoring 14 goals in the four games, including six of the Lions' nine goals in the 9-5 win over the fifth-ranked Waves and seven goals in the 15-1 over Pomona-Pitzer. He earned the WWPA Male Player of the Week honors for Sept. 9. He leads the team in goals on the season with 32... Junior Andrew Aki is putting up unmatched numbers on the defensive side. Through 16 games, he already has 39 steals and 31 field blocks. His field block mark breaks the program record of 29 from a year ago, earning a block in 12 of the 16 games, including a record seven against UC San Diego. His steal total for the season cracks the top-10 all-time... In just 16 games, junior Daniel Smith has more than doubled his drawn-ejection total for his career with 36 this season. He has 51 in his career.

WINNING IN THE WWPA
The Lions have opened the season at 6-0 against teams from the WWPA, running their unbeaten streak to 24 games against the conference. They went 11-0 in 2008 and won their last six in 2007 to win back-to-back titels. The last setback was to Santa Clara on Oct. 26, 2007, 8-7 in overtime. The 24 straight continues a string of success in the WWPA as the Lions have won six WWPA titles in eight seasons.

This week's TEAM LMU Game of the Week is actually a pair of soccer doubleheaders. Men's and women's soccer will both play at home this weekend in doubleheaders on Friday and Sunday. Friday, Oct. 16 will see the women take on Gonzaga at 12:30 while the men take on Santa Clara at 3 p.m. Then on Sunday, the women play ranked Portland at 12 noon while the men take on undefeated Saint Mary's at 3 p.m. The purpose of TEAM LMU is to bring Lion fans together as one, creating an atmosphere that helps build the Lions into champions, while allowing allow to enjoy the benefits of our corporate partners. For more information on TEAM LMU, go online at LMULions.com/teamlmu.

ALL-WWPA
Loyola Marymount's Andy Stevens was named the Western Water Polo Association Player of the Year in 2008, while Edgaras Asajavicius was named the Newcomer of the Year. Also earning honors in 2008 and back this season Tibor Forai, who was named second-team All-WWPA. Forai and Stevens were also named third-team All-American, along with graduated senior Tim Hummel.

NATIONAL HONORS
The success for the LMU men's water polo team this past season was not limited to the pool. Five Lions - Tim Heafner, Tibor Forai, Edgaras Asajavicius, Derek Milligan and Albert Samuels - have been named American Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Academic All-American for the 2008 season, putting more awards on top of one of the most successful seasons in program history. Each year the ACWPC selects student-athletes who contribute to their men's water polo program not only in the water but in the classroom as well. Three teams or levels are selected by the ACWPC. First-team academic All-American earns a GPA between 3.71 and 4.0 and is at the Outstanding level. Second-team is a 3.41-3.70 and is at the Superior level while a 3.20-3.40 is the third-team All-America and is at the Excellent level.

THE COACH
John Loughran started in the 1997-98 year as head coach of the men's and women's water polo programs and by 2001, he had both programs winning titles and going to the NCAAs. He has led the Lions to a combined 13 WWPA titles (7 for women, 6 for men) and 13 trips to the NCAA Championship over the last nine years as LMU has risen to become one of the top programs in the nation. However, as he enters his 13th season, Loughran will finally have a singular focus. LMU continued its commitment to the water polo programs when LMU Athletics' Director Dr. William Husak announed in the summer of 2009 that he was going to split the programs so that each team could have the focus of a head coach the entire year, hiring former assistant Kyle Witt as the women's head coach, allowing Loughran to focus exclusively on the men's team. The committment was earned, as Loughran has led the men to 11 winning seasons and has guided the program to six conference titles and six NCAA appearances in the last seven seasons, including the 2008 WWPA title win over UC San Diego. Adding to his impressive resume, Loughran has won eight WWPA Coach of the Year honors, four in women's water polo (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) and four in men's water polo, including the honor last season (2001, 2003, 2005, 2008). Additionaly, Loughran has coached 10 different players to 18 All-America honors while having four players earn WWPA Player of the Year honors from the men's team, including Andy Stevens in 2008.

BURNS CENTER
Since it opened in the fall of 2000, the Burns Aquatics Center has seen the Lions win 14 championships, post 155 wins and has been host to two NCAA championships in just nine seasons. The Burns Center has helped the women's water polo team claim seven conference titles, the men's water polo team claim six and then the women's swim team won their first title in 2008. In addition to hosting the two NCAA Men's Water Polo National Championship in 2002 and 2005, LMU has also hosted four Western Water Polo Association Championships - two for the men (2001, 2005) and two for the women (2003, 2008). The Lions have won three of them, both for the men and then in 2003 for the women. The Lions have thrived in the state-of-the-art facility, earning a record of 156-48 in eight seasons. The men's team went 5-3 in 2008 and have compiled a record of 66-30 (.679) during its stay at the Center (3-0 in 2009). Their best record came in the pool's first season in 2000 as they went 10-2 (.833). The Lions played just seven games at Burns in 2007, all but one coming against teams in the nation's top-20.