SANTA CLARA, Calif. – For the 10th time this season, the No. 2 Stanford men’s water polo team reached the 20-goal plateau, utilizing scores from 10 different players en route to a 22-5 non-conference road victory over No. 17 Santa Clara on Wednesday night.
The win in Stanford’s penultimate game of the regular season moved its record to 21-3 overall. The Cardinal closed out the non-conference portion of its 2014 schedule with a 15-2 tally.
In the previous decade (2004-13), the Cardinal had scored 20 or more goals in a single game on 12 total occasions and last season was the only time in the past decade Stanford totaled more than 400 or averaged more than 12 per contest (413; 14.2/game).
Seven of Stanford’s 10 goal scorers had multi-goal efforts on Wednesday night and the Cardinal inched closer to its 400th goal of the season. The team has 382 to its name (16.2 per game average) with its final MPSF regular-season contest coming up on Saturday against Pacific, as well as the league tournament the following weekend.
Conner Cleary, Alex Bowen (2) and Cody Smith (2) staked Stanford to a 5-0 advantage after the opening period and the Cardinal rattled the cage eight more times in the second by way of goals from Bowen, Bret Bonanni (2), Adam Abdulhamid, Smith, Reid Chase and Justin Roberto (2).
New goal scorers in the second half for the Cardinal came in the form of Connor Stapleton, Sam Pfeil and Davis Clute as Stanford added eight more combined in the third and fourth quarters after taking a 13-2 lead into halftime.
Bowen’s third-quarter score with 3:28 on the clock not only handed Stanford a 15-2 edge, but it was also his fourth of the contest and 235th of his career, tying the senior with James Bergeson for third on the Cardinal’s all-time list.
The four-goal outburst was the first multi-goal effort for Smith since scoring a Stanford season-high six against Loyola Marymount on Oct. 11. The freshman has scored 40 times this season and is second among MPSF first-year players in goals per game (1.67).
Stanford wraps up its regular season at home on Saturday against No. 7 Pacific (13-10 overall, 1-5 MPSF) at noon in what will also serve as a celebration for seniors Alex Bowen, Conner Cleary and Nick Hoversten. An alumni game will follow the match with the Tigers.
The Cardinal has already wrapped up the No. 2 seed in the MPSF Championship Tournament by virtue of head-to-head wins over USC and Long Beach State and will play in the quarterfinals on Nov. 21 at 1:30 p.m.
No. 2 Stanford at No. 17 Santa Clara
Nov. 12, 2014 • Santa Clara, Calif.
STAN 5 – 8 – 5 – 4 = 22
SC 0 – 2 – 1 – 2 = 5
Stanford Goals: Alex Bowen 4, Cody Smith 4, Bret Bonanni 3, Reid Chase 2, Davis Clute 2, Sam Pfeil 2, Justin Roberto 2, Adam Abdulhamid, Conner Cleary, Connor Stapleton
Santa Clara Goals: Franco 2, Grant 2, Guibord