LOS ANGELES – The 2018 season kicks into gear this weekend as the Loyola Marymount men's water polo team is set to compete in UC San Diego's Triton Invitational. The Lions open the year knowing that they facing UC Santa Barbara at 1:40 on Saturday and closing out the day against Redlands at 5:40 pm. Both games will be played at Canyonview Pool on the campus of UC San Diego.
 
Admission will be sold at the gate for $15, and parking on the UCSD campus is free on weekends. LMU's Sunday schedule will be released following the day's results on Saturday. For complete Triton Invitational tournament information, click here.
 
"After redshirting a number of our guys last year, we are very excited to have them back in the pool and ready to compete again," said Head Coach John Loughran. "We've had a great summer training and preseason training, and I really think this group is making a lot of progress. We are still young with no seniors on the team, but we do have great leadership from guys who have been playing together and guys who are motivated."
 
Among those returners who served a redshirt season in 2017 are Daniel Arellano, Alexandros Athymaritis, Dayne Jagga, Eric Reitmeir, and Collin Sohn.
 
"We are really moving in a great direction with this group," said Loughran. "I think our schedule is set up to help our guys by having some very difficult games early on. That is really going to help us as we continue to grow and continue to define the character of this team. With a young team, that is something that we will continue to do. We have great newcomers as well, Blazo Mitrovic will help right away as an outstanding all-around player. In goal, we have two players competing for a starting position, as both Robert Halligan and Zach Zemliak are both redshirt-freshmen. We are excited about putting this group together and getting challenged early on will be really good for us as we develop."
 
Following this weekend's tournament which features: UC San Diego, Air Force Academy, Cal Berkeley, Chapman, Concordia, La Verne, Long Beach State, LMU, Redlands, UC Irvine, and UC Santa Barbara, the Lions will face Pepperdine and UC Irvine in the WWPA/GCC Conference Challenge Cup.
 
LMU will then match up against last year's NCAA champions, UCLA, in Westwood a week before opening the season at home with a conference match against Air Force.
 
Tournaments along the way include the Nor Cal Tournament in Palo Alto in the middle of October and the Santa Clara Rodeo Invitational the following weekend.
 
This year's WWPA Championships will take place in Fresno, Calif., with an NCAA berth on the line.