Sept. 26, 2009

Box Score | Photo Gallery

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The fifth-ranked LMU men's water polo team played their most complete four quarters of the season, according to Head Coach John Loughran, and the result was an impressive 9-5 win over ninth-ranked Long Beach State at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Saturday afternoon.

Defense with balanced offense pushes the Lions to a 9-2 record to start the 2009 campaign, equaling their best start since 2004. Long Beach State falls to 4-3 on the year with the setback.

Goalie Andy Stevens added another double-digit save game to his resume with 12 and the Lions got a hat-trick from Andrew Aki and a pair of goals from Andrew MacDonell and Edgaras Asajavicius for the win.

The Lions led 2-1 at the end of the first period thanks to goals from Aki and Asajavicius. Each team scored to open the second quarter to put the game at 3-2 in favor of the Lions. Albert Samuels then scored with two minutes remaining in the first half to put the Lions up 4-2 and started a stretch of five unanswered goals that put the game out of reach.

LMU lead 8-2 before Long Beach State scored again.

The Lions will remain at home as they will take on Western Water Polo Association foe No. 17 UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 3 at 1 p.m.