Nov. 16, 2001

Los Angeles, CA -- The first round of the WWPA Championships wrapped up Friday afternoon at the Burns Recreation Center Pool on the campus of Loyola Marymount University. The Lions will face Air Force Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the Championship semifinal game. The University of Redlands and UC San Diego will also face off in the semifinals to advance to the championship game, while La Verne , Santa Clara, UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis will advance to the Consolation games.

The Lions took to the pool for game three of the day's schedule where they defeated the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs 15-7. They jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the first quarter led by Scott Smith who scored twice in the period, boosted with Kyle Witt's and Tamas Szego's single goals. Darren Nelson was able to convert the penalty for the Banana Slugs for the only score in the first quarter for UCSC.

LMU didn't let up in the second quarter as they increased the lead to 10-3 to go into the halftime break. Stephen Lipinski led the Lions brigade in the second, scoring three goals for the Lions. He returned to the Lions' lineup for the first time in two weeks as he was out with illness. Trevor Wagner Adam Zintsmaster and Szego were each able to find the back of the cage for the Lions. Nelson scored two more goals for the Slugs, as they went into the break.

The Lions continued through the end of the game outscoring UCSC 5-4. Kevin Witt scored twice in the third quarter, once on a man advantage and one penalty shot. Szego, Smith and Ky. Witt were each as effective in the third quarter with their goals. Kevin Paulsen defended the cage for the Lions through the first three quarters, as he collected six saves and allowed four goals.

Patrick Treanor went into the game for the Lions in the fourth quarter where he collected five saves and allowed three goals. UCSC shutout the Lions in the final quarter as Bryan McGrarry converted with the man advantage, while Mike Yoshida and David Graner both scored a single goal as time ran down on the Slugs. Matt Smith defended the cage for UC Santa Cruz where he collected 10 saves and allowed 15 goals. The Lions came out on top with a final score of 15-7.

The Lions face Air Force tomorrow, Saturday November 17, at 2:30 p.m, and UC Santa Cruz faces UC Davis at 11:30 a.m.

In other games of the WWPA Tournament, UCSD defeated La Verne 12-6 in game 1. The Tritons were led by Matthew Ustaszewski, Jonathan Samuels, Jonathan Hopkins and Clark Peterson who each scored twice. Lance Onken defended the net for the Tritons collecting four saves and allowing six goals. La Verne was led by Ian Gratz with two goals. John Steifleing played in the cage for the Leopards where he saved seven balls from scoring, and allowed 12 others through. The Tritons will advance to the Championship Semifinals tomorrow to face the Redlands Bulldogs at 1:00 p.m. The Leopards move into consolation play tomorrow as they face the Santa Clara Broncos.

In the 11:30 a.m. game of the tournament the Redlands Bulldogs defeated the Santa Clara Broncos, 9-5. The Bulldogs were led by Kevin Rosa with three goals, and T.J. Harney with two of his own. Tyler Newgren played at goalie for the Bulldogs and collected 13 saves and allowed five goals. Daniel Figoni and Mark Oda each scored a pair of goals for the Broncos, while Peter Moore defended their goal, collecting five saves, allowing nine goals. The Bulldogs advance to the championship bracket as the Broncos move into consolation play.

Game four of the tournament featured the Air Force Falcons who defeated the UC Davis Aggies 8-6 in overtime to end the day of games. The Falcons' charge was led by Chris Smith who scored twice in the regulation time, and two more goals in the overtime period. Brandon Shroyer defended Air Force's net where he collected six saves and allowed six goals. The Aggies were led by Tim Rogers who scored three goals. Travis Engleman played at goalie for the Aggies collecting six saves and allowed eight goals. Air Force will move into the championship semifinals and the Aggies go into consolation play.

Scoring Summaries For Day 1:

Game 1 1 2 3 4 F
La Verne 1 1 0 4 6
UC San Diego 3 3 3 3 12
La Verne: Gratz (2), Kidwell, Barret, Smith, Walters
UCSD: Ustaszewski (2), Samuels (2), Hopkins (2), Peterson (2), Spicer, Djapic, Borso, Boettner

Game 2 1 2 3 4 F
Santa Clara 2 1 1 1 5
Redlands 1 3 3 2 9
Santa Clara: Figoni (2), Oda (2), Doucette
Redlands: Rosa (3), Harney (2), Torosian, Foley, Dinnean.

Game 3 1 2 3 4 F
UCSC 1 2 1 3 7
LMU 4 6 5 0 15
UC Santa Cruz: Nelson (3), A. Smith, McGrarry, Yoshida, Graner
LMU: Szego (3), Lipinksi (3), Smith (3), Ke. Witt (2), Ky. Witt (2), Wagner, Zintsmaster

Game 4 1 2 3 4 OT OT F
UC Davis 2 2 2 0 0 0 6
Air Force 1 2 2 1 1 1 8
UC Davis: T. Rogers (3), Dingledien, Poutney, B. Rogers
Air Force: Smith (4), Breightenbach (2), Shadrick, Hasbrouk