Sept. 12, 2009

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The fifth-ranked LMU men's water polo team earned their 20th consecutive win over Western Water Polo Association competition thanks to an 11-3 victory over Whittier College on Saturday afternoon at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center.

Playing in their home opener, the Lions posted a 5-0 lead at halftime and were never threatened the rest of the way as they improve to 4-1 on the season. The Lions move to 3-0 against fellow WWPA foes on the season and have not lost against the WWPA since an 8-7 overtime setback to Santa Clara on Oct. 26, 2007, a stretch of 20 games.

Junior Derek Milligan and sophomore Max Schlegel combined to score one goals in the Lions' first four games last weekend, but in the win over the Poets, the pair scored three goals each to pace the Lions. Schlegel scored his in the first, third and fourth quarters while Milligan scored in the first, second and fourth.

Junior Daniel Smith added a pair of goals while goalie Andy Stevens had 14 saves and Andrew Aki added four steals to pace the Lions defense. Stevens now has 58 saves in five games while Aki has 13 steals in the same stretch.

The Lions will head to the 2009 NorCal Invitational hosted by Stanford starting on Saturday, Sept. 19. The Lions will open with WWPA rival and No. 13 UC San Diego at 12:30 p.m. at the Avery Pool. They will then play at either UCLA or Concordia (CA) at either 4:30 p.m. or 5:50 p.m.