Dec. 5, 2010

BERKELEY, Calif. - There would be no letdown this time. Loaded with senior leadership, including five players who one four straight conference championships and went to four NCAA tournaments, LMU posted an impressive 9-7 win over St. Francis (NY) in the consolation finals at the 2010 National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship on Sunday to finish third in the nation.

The Lions jumped to a 5-1 lead and played the entire bench down the stretch to finish with their fourth 20-win season in school history, improving to 20-9 on the year. Tibor Forai led the Lions with five goals and Andy Stevens came up big again with 16 saves while allowing just four goals.

"We responded well and came out with great energy," said Head Coach John Loughran. "We jumped to that 5-1 lead and I think that set the tone early. I was really proud of how our guys responded after a tough semifinal yesterday.

Forai scored the first three goals of the game and LMU jumped to a 4-0 lead just five minutes into the game. After St. Francis scored their first, Forai added his fourth of the period to give LMU that 5-1 lead.

Edgaras Asajavicius made it 6-1 before St. Francis' Marko Gencic scored twice to make it 6-3 with 3:08 to play in the half. Forai would score his fifth goal and senior Daniel Smith added another go make it 8-3 at the break.

St. Francis would score the only goal in the third before Albert Samuels scored with 4:43 to play in the game to make it 9-4. LMU would empty their bench the final minutes to claim the win.

LMU vs. St. Francis Scoring:
FIRST QUARTER:
7:37 1st Tibor Forai LMU
6:43 1st Tibor Forai LMU
6:11 1st Tibor Forai LMU
3:01 1st Derek Milligan LMU
1:12 1st Bosko Stankovic SFC
:37 1st Tibor Forai LMU
SECOND QUARTER:
6:04 2nd Edgaras Asajavicius LMU
5:32 2nd Marko Gencic SFC
3:08 2nd Marko Gencic SFC
2:41 2nd Tibor Forai LMU
1:50 2nd Daniel Smith LMU
THIRD QUARTER:
5:39 3rd Alexander Pancic SFC
4:43 4th Albert Samuels LMU
1:29 4th Boris Plavsic SFC
1:05 4th Marko Gencic SFC
:36 4th Alexander Pantic SFC

BOX SCORE
ST. FRANCIS - 1-2-1-3--7
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT - 5-3-0-1--9
St. Francis Goal Scorers - Stefan Gencic 3, Alexander Pantic 2, Bosko Stankovic, Boris Plavsic
Loyola Marymount Goal Scorers - Tibor Forai 5, Albert Samuels, Daniel Smith, Derek Milligan, Edgares Asajavious
Goalie Saves: Nikola Djuric, St. Francis 10 (2,4,2,2); Andy Stevens, Loyola Marymount 16 (4,4,4,4); Gavyn Wild, Loyola Marymount 0 (1:29 4th)