Dec. 5, 2009

PRINCETON, NJ - For the third time in four trips to the National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship, the LMU men's water polo team suffered a heartbreaking setback, this time to No.1 ranked UCLA in overtime, 9-8.

With 37 seconds left in the second overtime, Cole Consami scored on a 6-on-5 from three-meters to give the Bruins the one-goal win in a back-and-forth contest at Princeton University's DeNunzio Pool on Saturday afternoon.

For the Lions, they continue to come up heartbroken in the semifinals. It is the third time in the last four trips the Lions have lost by a goal in the final seconds. They fell to Stanford in Palo Alto, 6-5, a year ago and in 2005 they fell to the Cardinal, 7-6, at Bucknell. LMU drops to 19-8 on the year and will play host Princeton in the consolation game at 9:00 a.m. (PT)

"We have come so close and we felt we were in the position to move to the next step," said Head Coach John Loughran. "This is a very heartbreaking loss. We played well and had our opportunities to convert, but didn't."

The game came down to the 6-on-5 attack, and UCLA took advantage. The Lions did not. UCLA finished 4-for-8 on the man advantage while the Lions went just 1-for-9. The Lions had entered the contest converting better than 44 percent on the 6-on-5 while allowing opponents to convert just 29 percent.

"We have been solid on our 6-on-5 all season," said Loughran. "Today, we just couldn't convert. Give credit to UCLA, they will hurt you when they have an advantage. And today, they really hurt us."

And the 6-on-5 came into play down the stretch. With the game tied at 8-8, it went into the two-period overtime. In the first frame the teams went scoreless as WWPA Player of the Year Andy Stevens was solid in net, making 11 saves on the contest.

To open the second overtime, the Lions drew a 6-on-5 and had an opportunity to take the lead. They did not convert and then with under a minute to play, UCLA drew a 6-on-5 opportunity. Consami would then score his only goal for the winner.

LMU had one last chance with the extra-man attack, earning a 6-on-5 with 15 seconds to play. However, Max Schlegel's shot sailed wide at the buzzer.

"We ran great sets and converted throughout the game and in forcing overtime, we got great sets and took advantage," said Loughran. "However, on the 6-on-5 down the stretch, we just couldn't get it in. UCLA did a great job on forcing us out of original set."

The Lions trailed 8-6 with 6:47 to play in regulation when Davidson scored his fifth of the game. However, the Lions did not go away.

Ikaika Aki scored his second goal of the day from three-meters with 6:32 to play on the Lions' next possession to make it 8-7. Junior Tibor Forai, who led the Lions with four goals, then tied the game at 8-8 with a rocket from seven-meters a the 3:34 mark. The Lions had a 6-on-5 advantage with 1:50 to play in regulation but could not convert. UCLA then had the final possession with 23 seconds left, but they too could not score to set up the next periods.

The Lions scored first and led 4-2 when Derek Miligan score fro the left side with 7:09 to play in the second.

UCLA then scored the next four goals, the final two of the first half and the first two of the third quarter to take a 6-4 lead after a 6-on-5 goal with 4:47 to play in the third frame.

The teams then traded off scoring the next four goals to set-up the final six minutes of regulation.

UCLA --- 2 - 2 - 3 - 1 - 0 - 1 --- 9
LMU --- 3 - 1 - 1 - 3 - 0 - 0 --- 8
UCLA Goals: Davidson 5, White 2, Consami 1, Jorth 1.< br=""> UCLA Saves: Lapin 5
UCLA 6-5: 4-8
LMU Goals: Forai 4, Aki 2, Asajavicius 1, Milligan 1
LMU Saves: Stevens 11
LMU 6-5: 1-9