Sept. 6, 2007

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Los Angeles, CA (Sept. 6) - Playing their home opener in front of a near capacity crowd, the 12th-ranked Loyola Marymount men's water polo team saw their bid to knock-off No. 3 UCLA come just short as the Bruins scored a pair of late goals for an 8-6 win at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center on Thursday afternoon.

LMU junior Julien Lormant scored with 7:03 remaining in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 6-6. However, the Bruins drew an ejection and then scored on a goal from Marco Santos to take the lead with 5:49 remaining. Then with 4:01 left, Behn Hohl capitalized on a 5-meter called on the Lions to give them the two-goal lead.

The Lions could not get an closer to the Bruins, who improve to 1-0 while LMU falls to 2-3 on the season.

The game was a back-and-forth affair the entire way as LMU took an early 1-0 lead on Lormant's first goal of the game. He would finish the game with three.

After UCLA tied it at 1-1, Tim Hummel made it 2-1 in favor of the Lions with his goal at the 4:43 mark of the first frame. UCLA would then score the final two of the quarter to go up 3-2.

Both teams would manage just one goal each in the third period. UCLA scored first with 2:16 remaining to go up 4-2. LMU would get within one goal at the break as Tibor Forai scored to make it 4-3.

The Lions would tie it coming out of the lockerroom when Lormant knocked in an even-strength goal with 4:23 on the clock. UCLA managed to take the lead again just 20 seconds later on a 6-on-5 attack as Scott Davidson knocked it in from two-meter with 5:05 remaining in the third.

The lead would last only three minutes as Shaun Flood capitalized on a Lions' 6-on-5, scoring just off the left side of the goal to make it 5-5 with 2:05 remaining. UCLA would go back up a goal with less than a minute to play on Hohl's second of three goals to set-up the final frame.

UCLA finished the game 5-for-8 on the 6-on-5 while LMU went 3-for-5. The Lions continue the tour of the top-three teams in the country when they travel to USC at 12 noon on Saturday.

- GO LIONS -