Sept. 1, 2007

La Jolla, CA (Sept. 1) - The 10th-ranked Loyola Marymount men's water polo team opened the 2007 season with a split in the first two games of the UC San Diego Triton Invitational on Saturday. The Lions dropped a 7-6 heartbreaker in the closing seconds to No. 11 UC Davis before exploding for a 21-7 win over Cal Baptist.

In the first game of the season, UC Davis scored with 39 seconds remaining in the final quarter to snap a 6-6 tie to earn the one-goal win in the Western Water Polo Association match-up.

The game was back-and-forth the entire way with both teams having a one-goal lead in the first half before going to the break tied at 2-2.

In a seven-goal third period, UC Davis took a 5-3 lead with 2:39 remaining. The Lions, however, erupted for three unanswered the final minute of the game to take a 6-5 lead. Senior Rory Kelly started the run with 1:03 left and then Mark Milovic tied it with :23 seconds remaining. Kelly's second goal of the game with just five seconds remaining gave the Lions the one-goal lead.

UC Davis controlled a tight fourth quarter, tying it with 5:18 remaining before the game winner to close the quarter.

The Lions responded in the second game of the day, scoring 21 goals, including an eight-goal fourth quarter. Tim Heafner led all scorers with four goals. Tim Hummel added three goals, as did junior Julien Lormant, freshman Tibor Forai and redshirt freshman Zach Mix.

LMU will play Pepperdine at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.