Aki shoots for 100 goals
Andrew Aki, a 2006 Punahou graduate, posted 39 goals and 27 assists last season at Loyola Marymount.
Andrew Aki
Andrew Aki waited an entire year to play his first collegiate water polo game.
He hasn’t missed one since.
PROFILEAndrew Aki » School: Loyola Marymount |
Loyola Marymount’s ironman played in his 104th consecutive match over the weekend, scoring two goals in a 7-6 loss to No. 13 UC San Diego at the SoCal Invitational hosted by UCLA.
No. 10 LMU (8-7) finished 2-2 in the tournament, but had its 36-match winning streak against fellow Western Water Polo Association teams come to an end against the Tritons.
LMU has been the dominant team in the WWPA since the league’s creation in 2001. LMU has won seven of the nine titles, including the past three.
Aki has been instrumental in all three of those championships. After redshirting in the 2006 season, Aki has been a mainstay in the LMU lineup and is moving up the career charts during his senior season.
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Prior to last weekend, Aki had 87 career goals and 79 career assists. He’s on pace to become one of the few Lions in school history to reach 100 goals in his career.
The 2006 Punahou graduate, who is a predentistry major, set career highs with 39 goals and 27 assists to earn third-team All-American honors last season.
On the national scene, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation has dominated college water polo. The only time a WWPA team has advanced to the NCAA title game was when UC San Diego had a runner-up finish in 2000.
Aki is one of a slew of talented seniors who have a chance to match UCSD’s performance a decade ago. Six of the Lions’ seven losses have come against teams ranked in the top 10. LMU does hold a victory over No. 9 Pepperdine and led top-ranked Southern California at halftime before losing a match at home earlier this season.
LMU has the next week off before getting back into the pool next Friday for a home match against Pomona-Pitzer.
The Lions will finish the year playing the bulk of their league schedule, but a nonconference match at No. 3 California on Nov. 4 will be the next big test to see where LMU stacks up against the top teams in the country.
Aki has nine regular-season matches left to climb the LMU career charts in goals and assists, in which he currently sits in the top 10 in both.
