Sept. 4, 2011
IRVINE, Calif. - Fourth-ranked Stanford men's water polo blanked Fresno Pacific, 16-0, in its 2011 season opener Sunday morning at the UCI Invitational. The goalkeeping trio of Brian Pingree, Hunter Ploch and Scott Platshon combined for five saves to preserve the shutout.
The Cardinal will resume practice at home before returning to action the weekend of Sept. 17-18 when it travels to Stockton for the NorCal Invitational.
Records from before the 1995 season were not readily available at press time to confirm the last time that Stanford had shut out an opponent.
Pingree started Sunday's contest and made two saves in a period of work. Ploch played the second period, making a pair of stops and Platshon handled the second half, saving FPU's only attempt on frame.
On the offensive side of things, Peter Sefton netted a hat trick to lead 10 different Cardinal goal scorers. Alex Avery, Sam Finlayson, Jacob Smith and Forrest Watkins each scored twice. Connor Cleary and Eric Wright scored their first Stanford goals in their collegiate debuts, while Ryan Kent, Travis Noll and Austin Trinkle also added goals.
Stanford wasted little time taking control of Sunday's outing, scoring eight first-period goals against the Sunbirds. Two more goals in the second frame made it 10-0 at halftime, then the Cardinal would add three goals in each of the final two periods to finish things off.
Fresno Pacific - 0 0 0 0 = 0
Stanford - 8 2 3 3 = 16
Stanford Goal Scorers: Sefton 3, Avery 2, Finlayson 2, Smith 2, Watkins 2, Cleary, Kent, Noll, Trinkle, Wright
Fresno Pacific Goal Scorers: None
Goalie Saves: Pingree 2, Ploch 2, Platshon 1 (S); Cross 2 (FPU)