Box Score
FRESNO, Calif. – LMU men's water polo (2-5, 1-0 WWPA) never trailed in Saturday's opening game of the WWPA conference schedule. The Lions topped Fresno Pacific, 18-10, after leading by as many as 10 goals in the game.
In less than two and a half minutes of play, LMU established their dominance early and took a 3-0 lead on goals by three different players.
Daniel Roth opened the scoring, with
Blazo Mitrovic and
David Carrasco following suit. After FPU scored their first of the game, Roth scored consecutive goals on the next two possessions to build the lead up to 5-1 in the first quarter.
Roth's career day continued as he opened the second quarter with another goal to push the lead to five. After the Sunbirds scored their second of the day, Roth added his fifth of the first half with 5:27 to play before halftime.
David Carrasco extended the lead with back-to-back goals in the period to make it a 9-2 game with just under four minutes to play until halftime. Following two Fresno Pacific goals,
Alexandros Athymaritis closed out the half with his first of the day to make it a 10-5 game at the half.
The lead continued to grow as Athymaritis and Carrasco opened the second half with goals before FPU got one back. Carrasco added two more on consecutive possessions for a 15-6 lead at the 2:38 to play in the period. The home team scored on the ensuing possession before Mitrovic made it a double-digit advantage with two straight goals to bring the score to 17-7 with 1:41 remaining in the third. The quarter ended at 17-8.
Luke Chandler scored LMU's lone goal of the fourth quarter, as the Lions move to 1-0 in conference play with an 18-10 win.
Carrasco finished the game with six goals and four assists for 10 points. Both Roth and Mitrovic contributed six points in the win.
Zach Zemliak made nine saves as LMU's goalkeeper in the first three quarters.
Jon Lien came on for the final eight minutes and recorded three saves.
LMU will be back on the road this Wednesday for a night game at UC San Diego. The 6 p.m. game match will not count in the WWPA standings, as the Tritons and Lions will play their conference game back at Burns Aquatics Center on Oct. 12.
