STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 1 Stanford men’s water polo team lived up to its billing in its first action of 2014, scoring the game’s first seven goals en route to a 20-8 victory over No. 22 Concordia at the UCLA Invitational in Los Angeles on Saturday morning.
The Cardinal (1-0) dominated right from the start, as two-time ACWPC All-American Bret Bonanni struck first for Stanford. The junior driver was successful on his first four shots, scoring at the 7:14, 6:27 (penalty), 5:52 and 4:38 marks of the opening period. Griffin Bolan (4:04) added his first goal of 2014 and was followed by Jackson Kimbell’s on a 6-on-5 opportunity (1:26), as the Cardinal enjoyed a 6-0 lead at the end of the first period.
It was much the same in the second, as three-time ACWPC First Team All-American Alex Bowen scored a power play goal just over a minute in. Concordia (1-3) got on the board with 5:14 left in the frame and added another tally with 4:45 on the clock, but it wasn’t enough to match Stanford’s firepower.
Bolan’s second goal was sandwiched in between the Eagles’ marks and then in a three-minute span freshman Cody Smith went to work. The Cathedral Catholic (San Diego) product scored his first career goal with 4:15 until the break following an exclusion foul and backed that up with a pair of scores at 3:12 and 1:54 to give Stanford an 11-2 lead.
Kimbell scored again with 1:14 remaining in the second period. In the waning moments before intermission, sophomore Reid Chase put one in on a penalty shot (0:13) and fellow sophomore Connor Stapleton found the back of the cage with just one second remaining, as Stanford held a 14-2 edge at the break.
Drew Holland, who made four saves in the first two periods for Stanford, was relieved in the cage in the third by freshman Oliver Lewis, who made a quartet of his own stops in the final two stanzas.
Sophomore Kyle Weikert scored the fifth and sixth goals of his young career in the third period, putting home the first as Stanford played with a man up at 4:51. He notched another 38 seconds later and the Cardinal owned a 16-6 advantage heading into the final eight minutes.
Kimbell got things going for the Cardinal in the fourth, scoring 40 seconds in. Redshirt freshman Justin Roberto scored his first collegiate goal not long after (4:58) and then another redshirt freshmen, Davis Clute, closed out Stanford’s day with his first tally at 1:02. Clute scored on a power play with 23 seconds to deliver the 20-8 final.
Ten different players in the dark caps busted through to the back of the cage for the Cardinal. Stanford was 5-for-10 on power plays while the Eagles were 1-for-6. The Cardinal was 2-for-3 on penalty shots.
Stanford returns to action tomorrow with two games at the Inland Empire Classic when they face Pomona-Pitzer at 10:20 a.m., followed by a matchup with Redlands (1 p.m.).
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 22 Concordia
Sept. 13, 2014 • Los Angeles, Calif.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | F | |
| No. 22 Concordia | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| No. 1 Stanford | 6 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 20 |
Concordia Goals: Mundell 2, Woodward, Jorth, Turvey, Dincic, Moraes, Saduddlin
Concordia Saves: Saunders 6, Mash 2
Stanford Goals: Bret Bonanni 4, Jackson Kimbell 3, Cody Smith 3, Griffin Bolan 2, Davis Clute 2, Kyle Weikert 2, Connor Stapleton, Alex Bowen, Justin Roberto, Reid Chase
Stanford Saves: Drew Holland 4, Oliver Lewis 4