Nov. 10, 2003
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Just Briefly
The 10th-ranked Loyola Marymount University men's water polo team will conclude the regular season this week when they host an exhibition against the US National Team on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at 3:00 p.m., and then head to Malibu for a showdown with fifth-ranked Pepperdine at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 13. The Lions will then have eight days off before the Western Water Polo Championships at Redlands on Nov. 22-23.
Coming Up
Loyola Marymount will have a mid-week exhibition with the US National Team at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Tuesday, Nov. 11. The game will be at 3:00 p.m. The Lions will then close the regular season with its annual showdown against Pepperdine. The Waves defeated the Lions 9-2 at Burns on Sept. 27. The fifth-ranked Pepperdine Waves lost a heartbreaker to No. 8 UC Irvine, 8-7, in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's water polo at the Anteater Aquatics Complex Sunday. Pepperdine senior Michael Hausmann scored with 1:33 remaining to cut the margin to one. Pepperdine's leading scorer and two-time All-American, Jesse Smith, is still out of the lineup after having surgery last week. He is listed as questionable for the remainder of the season. Hausmann and junior Morgan Matthies led Pepperdine (15-6, 3-4) with two goals each. Junior goalie Ben Tait recorded three saves.
Scouting the Series
The Lions will look to earn the second straight series split with the rival Pepperdine Waves in the last two seasons. The Waves defeated the Lions 9-2 in the earlier meeting this season. The teams met twice last season and went to sudden-victory overtime both occasions. The Lions won the first 7-6 and then the Waves in the final game of the season, 7-6. The Waves lead the series 9-1.
Around the Corner
LMU will play in the Western Water Polo Championships on Nov. 21-23 at Redlands. With the win over Air Force on Nov. 8, the Lions look to have capture the second seed in the WWPA Tournament with rival UC San Diego looking at the top seed. Rounding out the top four will probably be BYU-Hawaii and Air Force. All four of those teams have been ranked in the nation's top-20 this season.
Senior Day
This week will be the regular season finale for four Lions who have compiled impressive stats in their tenure at LMU. Seniors Tamas Szego, Ryan Chapatte, Scott Smith and Kris Barr will wrap up their careers with the men's water polo program. Entering into the final weekend of play, Chapatte is second all-time in games played with 116 and Szego is fourth with 113. Combined, this senior class has played 418 games at LMU. Barr and Smith have played in 95 and 94 games, respectively. While playing in a large number of contests for the Lions, this class has climbed up the career record charts. Chapatte is third all-time with 133 steals, eighth with 141 goals and 10th with 53 steals. Szego is right behind Chapatte, scoring 122 goals (11th), with 53 assists (7th) and 70 steals (9th). Joining the two record holders is Smith with 55 goals, 57 steals (10th) and 20 assists and Barr with 83 goals (17th), 80 steals (7th) and 44 assists (14th).
Ranked Opponents
The final game of the season against Pepperdine will be the 18th time this season the Lions will play a ranked opponent. LMU has a record of 5-12 against ranked opponents. The Lions will take on another team ranked in the top-10 with No. 5 Pepperdine UCLA on Thursday, Nov. 13. That game will mark the 14th meeting against a top-10 team this season for the Lions. In those top-10 meetings the Lions have dropped nine of them by one goal, including three in overtime.
Equality
The 2003 season has seen a balanced offense as five Lions are among the top of the scoring list. Sophomore Endre Rex-Kiss, who was second on the team a year ago with 45 goals, leads the team with 48 in 2003, scoring eight goals last weekend in three games. Rex-Kiss has scored four goals in a game three times this season (Whittier, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara) and has led the Lions in scoring in 12 times. Last year's scoring leader, senior Ryan Chapatte, had a five goals last week and moved his total on the year to 42. Chapatte has also led the team in scoring in eight games this season. Senior Kris Barr has already topped his total from last season as he sits third on the team with 24 tallies, including the game winner against UC Santa Barbara. Senior Scott Smith is fourth on the team with 24 goals and senior Tamas Szego is fifth with 22.
In Net
Freshman goalie Ian Elliot had a break through tournament at the SoCal Invitational, shutting down the top offenses in the nation last weekend. The Tustin, Calif., native had 50 saves in four games at the SoCal Invite. On the season he has 199. He had 17 saves in the three-overtime heartbreaker to California and added 14 against fifth-ranked UCLA. Elliot was a two-time All-American at Foothill High School.
Last Week
LMU 11, Redlands 2 -Thanks to an 11-2 win over Redlands, the 10th-ranked Loyola Marymount University men's water polo team completed a doubleheader sweep in Western Water Polo action on Saturday at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center. The Lions improve to 9-3 in the WWPA and 13-12 overall with the win over Redlands. LMU had defeated 18th-ranked Air Force earlier in the day. Redlands falls to 14-9 on the year. Leading the way was sophomore Endre Rex-Kiss earning another hat-trick on the season. His three goals in the second half extended a four-goal lead to a nine-goal spread to allow the Lions to coast for the win in their regular season finale at home. Senior Ryan Chapatte had two goals in his final home game. Also playing their final home game was senior Scott Smith, who had a goal, senior Tamas Szego and senior Kris Barr, who also had a goal. Adding goals for LMU was Sean Wimer, Ben Easton, Trevor Wagner and Tyler Swanson. Scoring for Redlands was Ian Calpin and Adam Foley. LMU 7, Air Force 4 - The 10th-ranked Loyola Marymount University men's water polo team jumped out front of No. 18 Air Force 4-0 and hung on to a 7-4 in the first game of a doubleheader at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center Saturday morning. The Lions improve to 8-3 in the Western Water Polo Association with the win over WWPA rival Air Force. LMU improves to 12-12 overall while Air Force falls to 8-2 in the WWPA and 13-9 overall. LMU used man-advantage goals by sophomore Endre Rex-Kiss and junior Trevor Wagner in the first period and then two more by senior Ryan Chapatte and Scott Smith in the second to take a 4-0 lead. Air Force would get on the board as Murphy Morgan scored with no time on the clock in the first half to make the score 4-1. The Lions would go up 6-1 with goals by Smith and Rex-Kiss in the third period. Air Force would respond and cut the lead to a pair of goals as they score three straight. Micah Peterson, Morgan and Scott Butler all scored extra-man goals to make the game 6-4 with 1:23 remaining. The Lions would get an insurance goal by Chapatte to make the final 7-4. UCLA 7, LMU 6 (ot) - The 10th-ranked Loyola Marymount University men's water polo team took a three-goal lead into the fourth quarter but could not hang on as fourth-ranked UCLA came from behind for the win, 7-6, in overtime. UCLA's Ted Peck scored with just four seconds remaining in the first overtime period to lift the Bruins to the one-goal win. The Lions took a one-goal lead into the fourth and final quarter and then extended it by two with back-to-back tallies. Sophomore Endre Rex-Kiss, who finished with three goals on the game, scored on a break-away with 5:31 left in regulation to make the score 5-3. Senior Scott Smith followed more than a minute later with another goal to make the score 6-3 with 4:23 remaining. The Bruins would call a time out and then respond with three unanswered goals to send the game into overtime. Josh Hewko would score back-to-back tallies at 4:11 and then 2:29 on the clock to put the Bruins within one goal. Then with 1:43 on the clock Michael March tied the game at 6-6 to set-up the game winner. The Lions had their chance in the final minute of regulation. The Lions earned an extra-man attack with 45 seconds left in regulation. Senior Ryan Chapatte's shot with 25 seconds left hit the cross bar and appeared to be in goal. However, UCLA goalie Joseph Axelrad recovered in time to keep the ball from crossing the goal plane. It was a tight contest from the start as the first seven goals of the game were on extra-man attack. The Bruins scored on three of their first five extra-man opportunities and the Lions scored on four of their first five. However, after the third period neither team allowed an extra-man goal.
2002 Postseason Honors
Following the annual tournament, the WWPA selects its all-conference teams. Senior Kevin Witt for the Lions won Player of the Year honors, the second straight year a Lion has won the honor. Senior Kevin Paulsen won the award last season. Joining Witt on the first-team All-WWPA team was junior Ryan Chapatte, who led the team in goals with 49. Earning second-team honors was the senior Paulsen and freshman Endre Rex-Kiss. In his first season of collegiate water polo, Rex-Kiss had 45 goals, 27 steals and 20 assists. Named to the third-team was senior Andrew Jensen, who had 27 goals this season for the Lions.
LMU Head Coach
In six previous seasons at the helm of the men's water program, Head Coach John Loughran has achieved unparalleled success. As he enters his seventh season overseeing all three aquatic sports (men's and women's water polo and women's swimming), Loughran has built a program that continues to gain national exposure. In 2001, his men's water polo team won its first-ever Western Water Polo Association championship. They finished the season 15-14, earning a bid to the 2001 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship. The 2002 season finished with a 17-15 overall record and a second place finish in the WWPA with a 9-3 record. Adding to his impressive resume, Loughran has won four WWPA Coach of the Year honors, three in women's water polo (2001, 2002, 2003) and one in men's water polo (2001). He has posted an overall record of 109-92 (.542) for the men's team in six seasons, ranking him as the program's all-time winningest coach. He reached the century mark with the 8-7 win over 7th-ranked UC Irvine on Sept. 17. He has also earned a record of 113-64 (.618) with the women's water polo program, leading them to three straight WWPA championships and three consecutive appearances to the NCAAs.
