Field Set For 2009 Men's NCAA Water Polo Championships This Weekend In Princeton, NJ
11/30/2009 12:00:00 AM
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – For the seventh time in the last nine years, the LMU men’s water polo team will be representing the Western Water Polo Association in the National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Championship. On Sunday night, the NCAA released the bracket for the 2009 Championship to be held at Princeton University’s DeNunzio Pool and the Lions have earned the No. 3 seed and will face No. 2 UCLA.
The Lions (19-7) and Bruins (22-6) will face off in the second semifinal on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 5 p.m. (2 p.m. PT). With all the history between the two programs in the NCAA tournament the last nine years, they have only met once in the postseason. UCLA won 7-5 in the semifinals in 2001.
No. 1 seed USC (24-2) and No. 4 seed and host Princeton (15-11) will play in the second semifinal at 3 p.m. (12 p.m. PT).
UCLA earned the automatic bid from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation while USC, also from the MPSF, earned the one at-large bid. Princeton earned the automatic bid from the Collegiate Water Polo Association while the Lions claimed the WWPAs bid with a 5-4 win over UCSD.
Consolation and championship games will be held on Sunday, Dec. 6. The consolation game will be at 12 noon (9 a.m. PT) while the championship game will be held at 2 p.m. (11 a.m. PT), and broadcast live on CBS College Sports Network.
On the season, the Lions faced USC twice, UCLA once and did not face Princeton, who upset Navy to win the CWPA. UCLA won the MPSF in overtime over Cal and defeated USC in the semifinals. USC took third with a win over Stanford.
LMU fell to USC 11-6 on Sept. 6 at the UC San Diego Invitational and then at USC, 11-4, on Oct. 24. The Trojans were ranked No. 1 in both meetings. The Lions fell to UCLA on Oct. 22 at the Burns Center, 10-5. The Lions last faced Princeton in 2005, falling 8-3.
The Lions are 5-7 all-time in the NCAA tournament and enter this year’s tournament as one of the best defensive teams in LMU history, allowing just 155 goals on the season (5.96 per game).
courtesy of LMU Sports Information
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