Oct. 4, 2010
SoCal Invitational Central
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - For the second day in a row, the fourth-ranked Stanford men's water polo team split a pair of games, this time defeating Long Beach State, 9-8, before falling 13-9 to No. 3 California to finish sixth at the tournament.
The loss in the fifth-place game drops Stanford to 6-4 on the year. Stanford will begin MPSF play next Saturday, Oct. 9, as it hosts No. 1 USC at 3 p.m. at Avery Aquatic Center.
Jacob Smith led the Cardinal with five goals on the day, as all five scores came in the day's opening contest against Long Beach State. Peter Sefton added four goals in the second game of the day against California. Paul Rudolph also scored three times over the two games.
In the morning, the Cardinal and 49ers battled evenly to a 3-3 stalemate over the first 16 minutes. The Cardinal would grab the upperhand in the third period with three goals while only allowing one to the 49ers, taking a 6-4 lead into the final frame.
There, the teams combined to score seven goals, with Stanford getting three to answer Long Beach State's four scores and hang on for the 9-8 victory.
Smith's five goals led all players in the contest, while Forrest Watkins added a pair and Rudolph and Sage Wright each scored once.
In the cage, Brian Pingree made 11 saves. The win enabled the Cardinal to face off against No. 3 California in a rematch of the third-place game at the NorCal Invitational two weeks ago. But Stanford's hopes of avenging its loss would not be realized.
California got out to a fast start, putting up four goals in each of the first two periods while holding the Cardinal to just two goals in that time to take a commanding 8-2 lead into halftime.
Three more Golden Bear goals to just two for the Cardinal in the third period made it 11-4 with just eight minutes remaining. Although the Cardinal offense made a final push, scoring five times in the fourth period, it was too little, too late as the Golden Bears went on to the 13-9 win. Sefton scored four times to lead the Cardinal in the losing effort, while Rudolph and Jeffrey Schwimer each score twice. Wright would add his second goal of the day.
Defensively, Pingree made a pair of saves before giving way to redshirt freshman Hunter Ploch, who made a pair of saves in his time in the cage.
Long Beach State - 1 2 1 4 = 8
Stanford - 2 1 3 3 = 9
Stanford Goal Scorers: Smith 5, Watkins 2, Rudolph, Wright
Long Beach State Goal Scorers: Matulis 3, Clute 2, Petrovic, Rascon, van der Linde
Goalie Saves: Pingree 11 (S); Kubeck 9 (LBSU)
Stanford - 1 1 2 5 = 9
California - 4 4 3 2 = 13
Stanford Goal Scorers: Sefton 4, Rudolph 2, Schwimer 2, Wright
California Goal Scorers: Rackov 4, Saponjic 4, Dudley 2, Steffens 2, Stampfl
Goalie Saves: Pingree 2, Ploch 2 (S); Parsons 12 (C)