Sept. 30, 2002

Just Briefly

The Lions ended their weekend without a loss tying Southern Methodist, 0-0, in double overtime and defeating Washington State, 1-0. Freshman Lori Sims scored her first career goal as a Lion against the WSU Cougars. Sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro was a wall for the Lions. Yukihiro, making her first two starts of the year, recorded two shutouts and collected eight saves in 200 minutes played.

Up Next

Loyola Marymount has a game on the road and at home this week, both against crosstown rival Pacific-10 schools. The Lions first travel to take on the No.18 USC Trojans on their home field on Friday, Oct. 4 at 3 p.m. LMU then returns home to welcome the 3rd-ranked UCLA Bruins to Sullivan Field on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 12 p.m. Sunday's game is Game 1 of an LMU soccer doubleheader as the men's team hosts UC Santa Barbara at 3 p.m.

Sophomore Keeper Steps Up

Sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro stepped up last weekend earning the first two full shutouts of her career. Yukihiro stepped in to replace starting keeper Elizabeth Skhal who suffered a broken hand during practice last week. The sophomore native of Santa Ana, Calif., played a solid 200 minutes for the Lions. She kept the net goal free while collecting eight saves through two games. The seven saves she made against Washington State on Sunday was a season game-high.

Nishikawa Nears The Record Book

Junior Shari Nishikawa's offensive is relentless and the hard work is inching her closer and closer to a spot in LMU history. Nishikawa entered the season with three assists in her career as a Lion. The two assists she has already picked up this year gives her a total of five career assists which is just two shy of breaking into the top-10 on the all-time chart at LMU. Currently teammate Jill Dobens, Erica Florez (2000-01), Amanda Shellenberger (1997-01), Kim Buccola (1997-00) and Carol Hatcher (1995) are all tied for the 10th on the cart with seven career assists.

Lions Love Extra Time

The Lions have a flare for the dramatics playing in four overtime games so far this season. LMU is not phased by the extra time, if anything the extra minutes and sudden victory atmosphere just feeds the Lions frenzy. The Lions have not lost an overtime game this season and own a 3-0-1 record when playing over 90 minutes.

Defense Stands Strong

The Lions defense continues to be one of the best in the West Coast Conference. LMU currently ranks first in the WCC in goals against average (0.51) and has allowed the fewest goals (5) of any WCC member. Lion goalkeepers Elizabeth Skhal and Kelly Yukihiro have combined for five shutouts this season, tying LMU with Gonzaga for second place on the conference shutouts chart. As of 9/22/02 LMU ranked No.21 in the nation in goals against average.

Injury Report

Senior goalkeeper Elizabeth Skhal will be out 3-4 weeks with a broken hand. Skhal suffered the injury the week of Sept. 23 during training in practice.

Weekend Review

vs. Southern Methodist 9/27/02

The Lions saw a 1-0 win against Southern Methodist get called back by the official last Friday afternoon at Sullivan Field; the game would end in a 0-0 tie after double overtime. Junior Shari Nishikawa put the Lions up 1-0 with two minutes left in regulation only to see the goal get called back by the linesman on an offsides call. The Lions held a slight 6-5 edge in shots at the end of the first half. The second half was more of the same as LMU continued to outshoot the Mustangs by a 4-2 margin. The Lions peppered SMU's goal with quality shots forcing Mustang goalkeeper Erin McLead to make four saves on the day. The play of the day came late in the game when Nishikawa clearly stole the ball after a deflection off a Mustang defender deep in SMU territory. Nishikawa, one-on-one with SMU's keeper, beat McClead for the score putting LMU up 1-0 in the 88th minute. Fortunately for the Mustangs, anoffsides call by the linesman nullified the shot attempt, and in turn, the goal. The Lions had plenty of chances at the goal. Nishikawa and junior Jennifer Cefalia led the way with three shots each while freshman points leader Kelly Lewandowski followed with two. Sophomore goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro started and played all 110 minutes for the Lions.

vs. Washington State 9/29/02

LMU claimed a 1-0 win over Washington State last Sunday afternoon at Sullivan Field. Freshman Lori Sims capitalized on a defensive miscue by the Cougars to score her first career goal as a Lion. Sims put the Lions up early in the game scoring at the 26:15 mark on the clock. The 5-foot-4 forward collected the ball after a bad clearance by Cougars goalkeeper Sara Leibowitz way out in front of the box. Sims kept her composure took a few dribbles and drilled the ball into the open net for the score. Junior Haleigh Roach picked up an assist on the play as she had sent in the ball which was deflected by the keeper. The Lions took a 1-0 lead going into the half despite being outshot 4-3 by the Cougars. Washington State, desperate to go home with a split on the weekend after falling to Pepperdine 2-0 last Friday, peppered LMU's defense with six shots in the second half. A solid defensive front anchored by Lion goalkeeper Kelly Yukihiro though protected the Lions' one goal lead. Yukihiro collected even saves en route to earning her first win of the year. Her record now stands at 1-0-1 this season.

LMU Head Coach

Gregg Murphy is in his seventh year at the helm of the LMU women's soccer program. Under Murphy the Lions have enjoyed unprecedented success, posting winning seasons in all but two of his years in Westchester. Murphy's record at LMU now stands at 66-45-9, while his career coaching record, which spans eleven seasons, stands at 124-97-13. An outstanding recruiter, Murphy's 2002 class was ranked 7th best in the West Region by SoccerBuzz. Murphy is a 1986 graduate of Chapman University.

Trojans Tidbits

USC welcomes the Lions with a 4-3-2 overall record and is coming off a recent 2-1 win over UC Irvine. Ali Fennell leads the Trojans with three goals on the year while teammate Jessica Edwards follows with two. Julie Peterson is the only goalkeeper to have logged any minutes (850:00) in net for USC. Peterson has made 33 saves and boasts a 0.64 goals against average. Head Coach Jim Millinder has compiled an 87-37-8 record in his seven years with the Trojans. The all-time series record between LMU and USC stands at 5-3-1 in favor of the Trojans.

Bruins' Bio

No.3 UCLA enters the weekend with a 7-1-0 overall record. The Bruins suffered their only loss of the year, 1-0, at the hands of Penn State in double overtime early in the season. Since the loss, the Bruins have rattled off five straight wins. Iris Mora is UCLA's goals leader with six. Kim Devine and Katie Rivera follow with five each. Sarah Lombardo has logged the most minutes (639:33) in goal for the Bruins. Lombardo has made 15 saves and owns a 0.70 goals against average. Jillian Ellis is in her ninth year with the Bruins. Ellis owns 61-13-2 record while at UCLA. The Lions are looking for their first ever win against the Bruins. UCLA holds the advantage in the 6-0 all-time series record.