Box Score
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – With one second on the clock, Loyola Marymount men's water polo scored the game-winning goal to defeat St. Francis, 12-11. Neither team held more than a two goal lead throughout the game before
Joseph Shaw unbroke the tie for the win.
St. Francis opened the game with a goal, before
Alexandros Athymaritis,
Blazo Mitrovic, and
Eric Reitmeir went back-to-back-to-back to give LMU the 3-1 lead. The Terriers added one more before the end of the quarter to make it a 3-2 game after eight minutes.
After St. Francis tied the score to open the third, before both teams scored in the final minute. Mitrovic gave LMU the lead back with 40 seconds remaining before the half but the Terriers tied it on their next possession.
The Terriers scored three of the first four goals of the second half to take a 7-5 lead with 6:21 to play in the third. Athymaritis' second of the day was the lone goal to break up the run. Mitrovic and Reitmeir answered with consecutive goals to even the score at 7-all. The two teams traded goals to end the quarter with Mitrovic tying the score with 41 seconds on the clock.
The two teams went back-and-forth, trading off the first six goals of the final period. Shaw scored his first of the game to open the scoring in the fourth quarter, more than four minutes in. After St. Francis responded, Mitrovic added one more to push LMU ahead 10-9. The Terriers again tied it, with
Daniel Arellano unbreaking the tie to give the Lions the lead with 41 seconds remaining in regulation. The Terriers equalized with 10 seconds on the clock, but followed that with an exclusion with three ticks remaining. With the man advantage, Shaw put the Lions ahead for good, scoring with just a second remaining.
LMU played one of the three scheduled Friday games, following wins by Cal Baptist over Brown and Santa Clara over Harvard. Both of LMU's final two opponents picked up losses by a combined total of just three goals.
The Lions will be back on Saturday with two games. LMU will begin the day at West Valley College facing #T-16 Brown at 9:00 a.m., then return to Sullivan Aquatic Center to close out the tournament against #13 Harvard at 2:20 p.m.
