Nov. 4, 2009
STANFORD, Calif. - Third-ranked Stanford got its busy week started on the right foot as sophomore driver Jacob Smith's three goals paced the Cardinal to a 10-2 victory over No. 16 UC Davis Wednesday night at Avery Aquatic Center.
The victory lifted Stanford's overall mark to 17-1 on the year, and opened up a three-game week for the Cardinal. Stanford will now head south for a pair of MPSF contests, first visiting No. 8 Long Beach State Saturday for a 12 p.m. game then wrapping things up with a 12 p.m. contest Sunday afternoon at No. 7 UC Irvine.
Along with Smith's hat trick, Stanford also got a pair of goals from senior two-meter Ryan McCarthy, while single goals were scored by Travis Noll, Paul Rudolph, Peter Sefton, Will Smith and Drac Wigo.
Goalie Jimmie Sandman made five saves on a night where he was not challenged too much in the cage, and freshman Scott Platshon came on for the final four minutes and stopped a shot.
The teams traded possessions to start the contest before Noll opened the scoring at the 5:02 mark, receiving a crisp centering pass from Alex Pulido and finishing strong to put Stanford up 1-0. Smith would tack on the second Cardinal score nearly three minutes later to put Stanford in front by a pair at the end of the first period.
UC Davis would cut that lead in half just over two minutes into the second frame thanks to a goal from Matt Vowell that found the inside of the far post. But Stanford wasted no time reclaiming the two-goal advantage as Smith got his second score just 13 seconds later. Wigo would skip a close-range shot into the back of the cage with 1:08 to go to make it 4-1, but the Aggies would create a fast break for Carlos Martinez, who got behind the defense on a steal at half-tank and beat Sandman one-on-one to make it 4-2 with 22 seconds remaining.
With time for one possession before the break, Stanford would end up turning the momentum of the game and stepping it up a notch. Sefton skipped a shot that went off of Aggie goalie Kevin Peat's hand and out with one second remaining, giving the Cardinal a throw-in from the corner. In that second, Sefton played a perfectly-placed pass to McCarthy whose one-timer beat the buzzer as well as Peat to give Stanford a 5-2 lead at halftime and energize the Avery crowd.
That goal would spark a six-goal run to end the contest for the Cardinal, as it got three more in the third period as well as a pair in the fourth to seal things. Smith finished his hat trick with the opening goal of the second half on a 6-on-5 situation, and McCarthy and Will Smith would follow up with goals of their own.
Rudolph and Sefton notched their goals in the final period as Sandman and Platshon completed a perfect second half in the cage.
UC Davis - 0 2 0 0 = 2
Stanford - 2 3 3 2 = 10
Stanford Goal Scorers: J. Smith 3, McCarthy 2, Noll, Rudolph, Sefton, W. Smith, D. Wigo
UC Davis Goal Scorers: Martinez, Vowell
Goalie Saves: Sandman 5, Platshon 1 (S); Peat 5 (UCD)