Sept. 23, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
Taking on the nation's best has become a tradition for the LMU men's water polo program the last eight years, and it hasn't been any different, expecially the past several weeks. They will play another pair of ranked programs this coming week, starting with rival and 13th-ranked UC San Diego on Thursday at La Jolla High School before returning home to take on ninth-ranked Long Beach State on Saturday for the Team LMU game of the week.
INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions are off to their best start since 2004 with a 7-2 record heading into the week. LMU remained fifth in the nation this week after equalling the program's best finish at the NorCal Invitational - fifth place. The Lions played four ranked teams and went 3-1, falling only to No. 4 UCLA, who won the tournament. Sophomore Edgaras Asajavicius leads the team in scoring with 21 goals while Daniel Smith is second. Three others players are tied with eight. However, it has been the Lions defense that is turning heads. Junior goalie Andy Stevens has made nearly doubled his season output with 55 saves in four games last week, giving him 113 on the season, including a program-best 21 in the sudden-death overtime win against UC Irvine. Stevens has been getting help in front of him as junior Andrew Aki leads the team in steals with 25 and field blocks with 25. The Lions are one of the nation's leaders in allowing just 5.33 goals per contest this season, ranking fourth in the country.
THIS WEEK
The Lions will make their annual trip to La Jolla to take on their conference rivals, UC San Diego. This will be the second time in less than a week the two rivals will face off. The game will be play Thursday, Sept. 24 at La Jolla High School. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. The Lions won the first meeting last Saturday, 6-5, holding off a three-goal fourth quarter rally by the Tritons. UCSD holds a 30-11 edge in the series, but the Lions have won the last seven meetings. LMU will then head home to take on Long Beach State in the Team LMU Game of the Week on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 12 noon. This is the first of two scheduled meetings between the two teams. Long Beach State holds an edge in the series, 15-7, winning their last meeting down south on Nov. 13, 10-9.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior Andy Stevens has been named the WWPA Male Player of the Week for Sept. 23 after leading the Lions to a fifth place finish at the NorCal Invitational last weekend. The All-American goalie finished with 55 saves in four games, including a record 21 in the sudden-death overtime win over No. 8 UC Irvine. He added 12 saves in the win over No. 17 UC San Diego and 17 in the win over No. 6 UC Santa Barbara. On the weekend, he allowed just 5.75 goals per game. He has 113 saves and has allowed just 47 goals on the season, good for a 5.70 goals against average.
STRONG START
Sophomore Edgaras Asajavicius helped LMU to a 3-1 record at the UC San Diego Triton Invitational, earning wins over #19 Air Force, #5 Pepperdine and Pomona-Pitzer. With the wins, the Lions moved to No. 5 in the nation in the latest poll. Asajavicius exploded offensively, scoring 14 goals in the four games, earning six of the Lions' nine goals in the 9-5 win over the fifth-ranked Waves. He also had seven goals in the 15-1 over Pomona-Pitzer. He finished the week with a shooting percentage of 53.8, added four steals, a field block and an assist to earn the WWPA Male Player of the Week honors for Sept. 9. He leads the team in goals on the season with 21.
This week's TEAM LMU Game of the Week features No. 5 LMU taking on No. 9 Long Beach State. The purpose of TEAM LMU is to bring Lion fans together as one, creating an atmosphere that helps build the Lions into champions, while allowing allow to enjoy the benefits of our corporate partners. For more information on TEAM LMU, go online at LMULions.com/teamlmu.
WINNING IN THE WWPA
The Lions have opened the season at 4-0 against teams from the WWPA, running their unbeaten streak to 21 games against the conference. They went 11-0 in 2008 and won their last six in 2007 to win back-to-back titels. The last setback was to Santa Clara on Oct. 26, 2007, 8-7 in overtime. The 21 straight continues a string of success in the WWPA as the Lions have won six WWPA titles in eight seasons.
ALL-WWPA
Loyola Marymount's Andy Stevens was named the Western Water Polo Association Player of the Year in 2008, while Edgaras Asajavicius was named the Newcomer of the Year. Also earning honors in 2008 and back this season Tibor Forai, who was named second-team All-WWPA. Forai and Stevens were also named third-team All-American, along with graduated senior Tim Hummel.
National Honors
The success for the LMU men's water polo team this past season was not limited to the pool. Five Lions - Tim Heafner, Tibor Forai, Edgaras Asajavicius, Derek Milligan and Albert Samuels - have been named American Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Academic All-American for the 2008 season, putting more awards on top of one of the most successful seasons in program history. Each year the ACWPC selects student-athletes who contribute to their men's water polo program not only in the water but in the classroom as well. Three teams or levels are selected by the ACWPC. First-team academic All-American earns a GPA between 3.71 and 4.0 and is at the Outstanding level. Second-team is a 3.41-3.70 and is at the Superior level while a 3.20-3.40 is the third-team All-America and is at the Excellent level.
The Coach
John Loughran started in the 1997-98 year as head coach of the men's and women's water polo programs and by 2001, he had both programs winning titles and going to the NCAAs. He has led the Lions to a combined 13 WWPA titles (7 for women, 6 for men) and 13 trips to the NCAA Championship over the last nine years as LMU has risen to become one of the top programs in the nation. However, as he enters his 13th season, Loughran will finally have a singular focus. LMU continued its commitment to the water polo programs when LMU Athletics' Director Dr. William Husak announed in the summer of 2009 that he was going to split the programs so that each team could have the focus of a head coach the entire year, hiring former assistant Kyle Witt as the women's head coach, allowing Loughran to focus exclusively on the men's team. The committment was earned, as Loughran has led the men to 11 winning seasons and has guided the program to six conference titles and six NCAA appearances in the last seven seasons, including the 2008 WWPA title win over UC San Diego. Adding to his impressive resume, Loughran has won eight WWPA Coach of the Year honors, four in women's water polo (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004) and four in men's water polo, including the honor last season (2001, 2003, 2005, 2008). Additionaly, Loughran has coached 10 different players to 18 All-America honors while having four players earn WWPA Player of the Year honors from the men's team, including Andy Stevens in 2008.
BURNS CENTER
Since it opened in the fall of 2000, the Burns Aquatics Center has seen the Lions win 14 championships, post 155 wins and has been host to two NCAA championships in just nine seasons. The Burns Center has helped the women's water polo team claim seven conference titles, the men's water polo team claim six and then the women's swim team won their first title in 2008. In addition to hosting the two NCAA Men's Water Polo National Championship in 2002 and 2005, LMU has also hosted four Western Water Polo Association Championships - two for the men (2001, 2005) and two for the women (2003, 2008). The Lions have won three of them, both for the men and then in 2003 for the women. The Lions have thrived in the state-of-the-art facility, earning a record of 156-48 in eight seasons. The men's team went 5-3 in 2008 and have compiled a record of 64-30 (.679) during its stay at the Center (1-0 in 2009). Their best record came in the pool's first season in 2000 as they went 10-2 (.833). The Lions played just seven games at Burns in 2007, all but one coming against teams in the nation's top-20.
- GO LIONS -
