Nov. 8, 2008
MALIBU, Calif. - The defense of the second-ranked Stanford men's water polo team may not receive as much recognition as the high-scoring offense, but Saturday it made its presence known by holding the No. 5 Pepperdine to just one goal over the final 20:39 of the Cardinal's 9-4 victory in Malibu.
Stanford (21-2, 5-0 MPSF) won its eighth straight game, and will go for number nine tomorrow as it travels to UC Santa Barbara for a 12 p.m. contest.
Three Cardinal players scored a pair of goals each Saturday, as Will Hindle-Katel, Chris Jacobson and Sage Wright accounted for six of Stanford's nine goals. Jacob Smith, Cody Wiesen and Janson Wigo each netted a goal to round out the Stanford scoring.
Stanford's defense, meanwhile, limited the Waves to just three goals in the contest, with the second-to-last of those scores coming with 4:39 remaining in the first half. That five-meter penalty, Adam Hewko's second goal of the game, tied the score at 3-3, and from that point the Cardinal defense became a nearly impenetrable wall for the final two and a half periods, allowing just one more score.
Goalkeeper Jimmie Sandman made eight saves for the Cardinal in its superb defensive outing.
Hindle-Katel opened up the scoring 2:17 into the contest to give the Cardinal the early 1-0 lead, but Pepperdine would answer just 16 seconds later to even things up. Jacobson's goal 50 seconds before the end of the period followed by Wigo's score 20 seconds into the second gave Stanford a two-goal cushion at 3-1, but the Waves, thanks chiefly to Hewko's two goals, came back to knot things up at 3-3 with 4:39 to play in the first half.
That would end up being the final goal for the Waves until there were 59 seconds remaining in the contest, as while the defense was clamping down and shutting down every Wave attack, the Cardinal offense was building its lead. Smith netted the go-ahead goal 1:46 before halftime to put Stanford back in front, and Wright started the second-half scoring with a 6-on-5 goal with 2:52 to go in the third period. Jacobson followed up with his second of the game at the 41-second mark.
Leading 6-3 heading into the final period, the Cardinal put the game away in the opening four minutes, getting goals from Wright, Wiesen and Hindle-Katel to extend the lead to 9-3.
Stanford - 2 2 2 3 = 9
Pepperdine - 1 2 0 1 = 4
Stanford Goal Scorers: Hindle-Katel 2, Jacobson 2, Sa. Wright 2, J. Smith, Wiesen, J. Wigo
Pepperdine Goal Scorers: Hewko 3, Snyder
Goalie Saves: Sandman 8 (S); Hahn 7 (P)