News from the Lions’ den

Tony Altobelli

With all the youth, prep and community college stuff going on

around this area, it’s sometimes easy to forget about the four-year

school that happens to reside in Costa Mesa.

For those not familiar with it, let me introduce you to Vanguard

University, home of the Lions.

The folks over in Lion Country have been making some noise in the

athletic department and now it time they be noticed.

Team-wise, men’s soccer, 7-4-1, 4-1-1 in the Golden State Athletic

Conference, is slightly behind Azusa Pacific (ranked No. 2 by the NAIA).

The Lions are led by senior offensive sniper, Diego Goni.

Goni, a GSAC Athlete of the Week a couple of weeks ago, leads the

Lions with 11 of the team’s 27 goals. Goni is tied for third place among

all GSAC scorers.

On the women’s soccer front, playing in a conference with three top-25

NAIA teams, including top-ranked Westmont, the Lions are holding their

own with a 7-6 record, 2-3 in the GSAC.

Senior Ganessa Cobb’s eight goals and four assists put her among the

GSAC scoring leaders, while Robin Landauer’s 1.13 goals-against average

is fifth-best in conference.

In fact, among the top five goalies, none come close to Landauer’s 51

saves.

Also making an impact on the Lions’ offense is former GSAC Player of

the Week, Betsy Nienhuis (six goals, four assists) and senior Shelly Bage

(five goals, three assists). Brittany Braun and Annie Jacobs each have

scored four goals to support the Lions’ balanced attack.

It may not be the best season in the history of the VU women’s

volleyball team (3-13, 3-9), but Megan Godfrey has been putting up some

solid numbers.

Godfrey’s 137 digs and her 3.4 digs-per-game average ranks her in the

top 10 among GSAC defenders.

If this has gotten you curious about the Lions, just wait until

basketball season. There may be a national championship brewing on the

women’s side. Stay tuned.

Congratulations to Costa Mesa resident Ted Newland, head coach of the

UC Irvine men’s water polo team. He recently passed 650 career wins.

Newland, a former coach for both Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar

high schools, beat second-ranked Cal, 5-4, Saturday for win No. 650, then

won No. 651 with a 5-3 win Sunday at No. 4 Stanford.

Newland’s career record is 651-284-5 and he has the most wins among

NCAA water polo coaches.

UCI is ranked fifth nationally and will play at Long Beach State

tonight at 7.