RIVERSIDE, Calif. — No. 9 LMU edged No. 11 California Baptist 13-12 on Saturday at Lancer Aquatic Center. The Lions scored five times in the fourth quarter to secure the win in their final regular season game of the year.
LMU opened with goals by
Gabrijel Burburan at 7:36 on a penalty shot and
Jake Bonavia at 7:09 off
Nico Furneaux's assist before California Baptist answered with goals at 4:55 and 1:09.
Asher Smith scored at :50 to close the first-quarter scoring, and the teams traded goals early in the second quarter before
Roman Saroyan scored twice and
Luka Dimic added another during a three-goal Lions stretch. California Baptist responded with the final goal of the second quarter and the first two goals recorded in the third quarter, but Burburan scored on a power play at :12 before California Baptist answered again at :01. In the fourth quarter, the Lions answered Wyatt Bugbee's goal at 7:29 with goals from Dimic at 6:19 and Smith at 5:03, then followed a California Baptist score with three consecutive goals by Furneaux,
Jaxon Hoover and Burburan. California Baptist scored twice in the final 33 seconds, while Loyola Marymount finished with 13 goals on 30 shots and California Baptist had 12 goals on 34 shots.
Burburan led the Lions with three goals and five assists while adding a steal, a field block and a sprint win. Saroyan scored two goals on three shots, added an assist and recorded three steals with a field block. Bonavia finished with two goals on two shots and recorded two sprint wins. Smith scored twice on three shots and drew four exclusions.
LMU finishes the regular season 18-8 overall, 6-1 in West Coast Conference play and ranked No. 9 nationally. California Baptist falls to 24-8 overall and is ranked No. 11 nationally.
Up next, the Lions travel to Santa Clara to compete at the WCC Championship on Friday, Nov. 20.
