BOX SCORE
FRESNO, Calif. – Loyola Marymount men's water polo advances to the semifinals of the WWPA Championships despite not scoring in the opening quarter. The Lions turned on the heat for 12 goals in the final three periods to top Santa Clara, 12-10.
Santa Clara scored the lone goal of the first quarter, an even strength score with 4:59 on the clock.
Both offenses awoke in the second quarter as a combined 11 goals followed the one from the opening quarter. The Lions tied the game less than a minute into the second quarter, with a penalty shot goal by newly-named WWPA Freshman of the Year
Blazo Mitrovic. The Broncos then went ahead with a powerplay goal only to have
Austin Clark score the quick equalizer from a
Daniel Arellano assist to tie the game at two apiece. SCU then responded with another go-ahead powerplay goal only to have
Dayne Jagga tie it at 3-3 only 20 seconds later. The Broncos once again pushed ahead, and LMU again answered as Clark found Mitrovic to tie the score. Those six combined goals were scored in less than a two-minute span between the 5:46 and 3:55 marks. SCU took another lead at the 2:23 mark before
Alexandros Athymaritis benefitted from another Clark assist with 2:00 remaining before halftime. The Lions took their first lead of the game with 1:17 to play in the second as Clark tallied his fourth assist of the quarter and Mitrovic scored his third goal of the quarter. The Broncos were the ones to respond this time, scoring with 16 seconds on the clock to make it a 6-6 game at the half.
A powerplay goal by
Joseph Shaw put LMU ahead 7-6 to open the third quarter after the Lions were able to keep the possession alive. Clark pushed the lead to two goals with 5:33 on the clock before SCU got one back on the ensuing possession. Athymaritis extended the lead with an even strength goal just before the halfway point of the quarter, and added another with 2:44 to play to make it a 10-7 game. The Broncos added one in the final minute of the quarter to make it 10-8 heading into the final eight minutes.
Santa Clara cut it to a one-goal game to open the fourth quarter, but late goals by Jagga and
Daniel Roth sealed the victory. The Broncos added one in the final minute, but LMU advances with a 12-10 victory.
Austin Clark led the way with eight points coming off his six assists and pair of goals. Both Mitrovic and Athymaritis finished with three goals, and Jagga added a pair.
Robert Halligan made 10 saves in the win.
LMU advances to the second semi-final of Saturday to face the second-seeded UC Davis at 1:45 pm. The Aggies advanced with a 19-6 win over Concordia.
There was one upset on the opening day of the tournament as fifth-seeded Air Force upended fourth-seeded California Baptist, 6-5, in the closest game of the day.
