DAVIS, Calif. – LMU men's water polo advances to Saturday's semi-final of the 2021 Western Water Polo Association Championships with a 13-6 win over Air Force in Friday's opening round.
 
The Lions took a commanding 4-1 lead in the first quarter as LMU's three All-WWPA selection left their mark early in the game. Alexandros Athymaritis opened the scoring with a powerplay goal, then David Carrasco and Blazo Mitrovic followed to put the Lions up, 3-0. After Air Force scored their first of the game, Joseph Cavazos gave the three-goal advantage back to the Lions.
 
The Falcons converted a penalty shot, scored a powerplay goal, and finished at even strength to tie the game at 4-all with 3:17 to play in the first half. The Lions then closed out the half with three goals Mitrovic scored twice and Carrasco accounted for the other.
 
Mitrovic opened the third quarter with another goal and Atymaritis followed with another to give LMU a 9-4 advantage. Air Force scored one back and made it a 9-5 game entering the final eight minutes.
 
Mitrovic scored his game-high fifth goal to open the fourth quarter. Cavazos and Tyler Harvey built the lead up to 12-5 with just over half of the quarter remaining. The Falcons scored the final two goals before LMU took the victory and advanced.
 
With the win, LMU will match up against the top-seed and host UC Davis on Saturday at 11:00 AM.