Oct. 28, 2006
Stanford, Ca - Freshman Drac Wigo scored what proved to be the winning goal with 7:16 to play and junior goalkeeper Sandy Hohener stopped a Long Beach State shot with no time on the clock to give the fourth-ranked Cardinal men's water polo team a 6-5 victory over the 49ers in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) game on Saturday afternoon at the Avery Aquatic Center.
Stanford built a 5-2 lead at halftime, but Long Beach State scored the only goals of the third period to cut Stanford's margin to 5-4 after three periods. Wigo put the Cardinal in front by two goals at 6-4 with 7:16 in the fourth period, his second goal of the game. Nearly two minutes later, Long Beach State scored on Jeff Greenwood's first goal of the game to cut the Stanford lead to 6-5.
Neither team scored the rest of the way. Long Beach State called a timeout with ten seconds and had possession of the ball. The 49ers worked for the last shot, but Clint Wilson's shot was blocked in front of the Stanford net by Hohener.
Wilson put Long Beach State on the scoreboard first with a goal at 6:13. Stanford then countered with three (Tyler Drake, J.J. Garton, Ryan McCarthy) of the game's next four goals to take a 3-2 at the end of the first period. The lead increased to 5-2 at halftime on second period goals by Drac Wigo and his twin brother, Janson Wigo.
Two goals by Jay Gerardi of Long Beach State made the game 5-4 at the end of the third period.
Stanford now has a five game winning streak to increase its season record to 12-5 and 4-1 in the MPSF. Long Beach State fell to 5-12 overall and 0-4 in the conference. Stanford travels to UC Santa Cruz on Sunday at noon.
Stanford returns home on Saturday, November, 4, at 1:30 p.m. to face top-ranked and unbeaten USC.
Stanford (11-5, 3-1 MPSF)3201=6
Long Beach State (5-11, 0-3 MPSF) 2021=5
Stanford Scorers: D. Wigo 2, McCarthy 1, Garton 1, J. Wigo 1, T. Drake 1
Long Beach State Scorers: Gerardi 3, Greenwood 1, Wilson 1
Goalie Saves: Hohener (S) 5; Sandman (S) 4; MacKenzie (LBS) 14