Nov. 3, 2012
DAVIS, Calif. - The offensive surge continued for No. 3 Stanford men's water polo Saturday as the Cardinal racked its season-high fifth straight win, 18-7 at No. 16 UC Davis.
Stanford (13-4) closes the non-conference weekend with a contest at No. 19 Santa Clara Sunday at 12 p.m.
Four Cardinal players posted hat tricks in the win as Bret Bonnani (six goals), Alex Bowen (four), BJ Churnside (three) and Nick Hoversten (three) accounted for all but two of the day's goals for Stanford. Alex Avery and Travis Noll would account for the other two goals.
Goalie Scott Platshon made 10 saves on the defensive end.
Stanford had a strong showing on the 6-on-5, scoring on four of its six man-up opportunities in addition to converting its only penalty shot. On the other side of the coin, the Cardinal held UC Davis (12-15) to just four power-play goals in 14 attempts.
The Cardinal scored its first three goals in a span of 41 seconds. Hoversten netted the first on the 6-on-5 at 6:14, then added the third at 5:33 to sandwich Churnside's score at the 5:47 mark. A UC Davis timeout after the third goal didn't slow Stanford's momentum as Bonanni got on the scoresheet for the first time just 28 seconds later.
Chris Richardson would score twice for the Aggies through the rest of the period, his goals coming either side of Bonanni's second at 2:25 as Stanford led 5-2 after the opening frame.
Stanford would get the lead up to five at 7-2 and then would lead 7-3 at halftime before putting things to bed in the third period. Seven third-period goals by the Cardinal turned a four-goal halftime lead into a 14-6 advantage as Stanford took control of the match. Two goals from Bonanni along with one apiece from Churnside and Noll spurred a 4-1 run over the period's opening 4:14 that got the Cardinal lead to 11-4.
Four more goals in the fourth period, two from the hand of Bowen, kept the Aggies at bay along with a defensive effort that held UC Davis to just one goal over the final frame.
Stanford - 5 2 7 4 = 18
UC Davis - 2 1 3 1 = 7
Stanford Goal Scorers - Bonanni 6, Bowen 4, Churnside 3, Hoversten 3, Avery, Noll
UC Davis Goal Scorers - Richardson 3, Allen 2, MacCarthy, Vowell
Goalie Saves - Platshon 10 (S); Bates 11 (UCD)