Sept. 21, 2013

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BERKELEY, Calif. -- The eighth-ranked LMU men's water polo team earned a split in the opening day of the 2013 NorCal Invitational hosted by Cal on Saturday. The Lions fell to No. 9 Long Beach St. 13-9 and then defeated No. 20 Air Force 12-11.

Sophomore Milutin Mitrovic scored seven goals on the day while Emanuel Di Stasio added four goals as the Lions improve to 3-4 on the year.

In the opener, the game was tied at 4-4 after one but the 49ers outscored LMU 4-1 in the second quarter to build an 8-5 lead. The teams would play even in the third as it would sit at 11-8 entering the final quarter. Mitrovic had four goals while Di Stasio had three.

In game two in the match-up between the Western Water Polo Association rivals, the teams played even for the first two quarters, sitting at 2-2 after one and 5-5 at the break.

The second half started the same way with the teams trading the first four goals and with the scored sitting at 7-7, the Falcons, the defending WWPAchamps, scored back-to-back goals on consecutive possessions to build a 9-7 lead with 3:42 to play.

LMU would then erupt for four straight goals in the final 3:18 to tie the game and then take an 11-9 lead heading into the fourth quarter. McGee scored the first two goals of the run, followed by Ferretti scoring a pair, the first with 1:36 to play and then again with 50 seconds to go in the quarter.

Air Force would cut the lead to 11-10 to start the fourth quarter, but Mitrovic would added another for the Lions for a key two-goal lead with 4:42 to play. The Falcons would cut it to one again with 2:57 to play but the Lions' defense would hold down the stretch for the one-goal win.

LMU will face Concordia, who fell to UCLA 17-4 and then defeated UC San Diego 15-12, in Game No. 24 at 12:15 pm. The other half of their bracket features UC Irvine taking on UC Davis at 10:50 am. The losers will play at 4:50, while the winners will play at 6:15 pm. Games will be at Diablo Valley College.

#9 Long Beach St. 13, #8 LMU 9
NorCal Invitational - Berkeley, CA

Scoring:

LMU - Milutin Mitrovic 4, Emanuel Di Stasio 3, Joe Ferretti, Matt Stipanovich

LBSU - Kappes 4, Taylor 2, Reilly, Vakic, Carmichael, Lappar

#8 LMU 12, #20 Air Force 11
NorCal Invitational - Berkeley, CA

Scoring:

LMU - McGee 4, Milutin Mitrovic 3, Joe Ferretti 2, Matt Stipanovich, Vuk Cvetkovic, Emanuel Di Stasio

AFA - n/a

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