BOX SCORE
Â
LOS ANGELES – Loyola Marymount men's water polo erased a three-goal halftime deficit to complete the comeback win over the U.S. Naval Academy. The Lions (6-6, 2-1 WWPA) outscored Navy (12-8, 4-2 CWPA), 9-4, after intermission to win 12-10.
Â
Navy opened the scoring, but
Dayne Jagga was quick to equalize at the 5:24 mark of the first quarter. The Midshipmen closed out the period with the next two goals, taking a 3-1 lead into the quarter break.
Â
Blazo Mitrovic cut it to a one-goal game on LMU's first possession of the second quarter, but back-to-back Navy goals extended the visitor's lead to 5-2. With LMU on the man advantage,
Daniel Arellano found
Dayne Jagga for his second of the day sigh 5:44 remaining until halftime. Navy added one more before the break to double up LMU, 6-3, at the half.
Â
The third quarter opened with a quick strike by
Scott Thomas, just 22 seconds into the new half. After a Navy goal, the Lions cut it back to a one-goal game in less than a minute's time with back-to-back goals by
Daniel Roth. Following a Navy response,
Alex Davis fired in a goal to make it 8-7 with 3:40 to play. Mitrovic brought LMU back to even with a powerplay goal at the 2:37 mark of the third. Each team benefited from the man advantage to push it to a 9-9 tie game. The Lions took their first lead of the game after successfully defending a powerplay and coming the other way for another Mitrovic goal with five seconds remaining in the quarter.
Â
Mitrovic extended it to a 11-9 lead after converting a penalty shot less than a minute into the fourth, which he followed with an even strength goal at the 4:15 mark. Navy got one back, but LMU held on for the 12-10 victory.
Mitrovic finished with a game-high six goals and three steals.
Robert Halligan played the entire game as LMU's goalkeeper, recording 15 saves over his 32 minutes.
Â
The Lions head north next weekend for the three-day MPSF Nor Cal Tournament. LMU know their first opponent with be Cal Berkeley at 4:10 p.m. on Friday at Belardi Pool in Palo Alto, Calif.
Â