LONG BEACH, Calif. – Nine Cardinal scored, led two each from Adam Abdulhamid, BJ Churnside, Nick Hoversten and Cody Smith, as the second-seeded Stanford men’s water polo team defeated seventh-seeded Pepperdine in the MPSF Tournament quarterfinals on Friday afternoon in Long Beach, Calif., 13-4.
The win, Stanford’s sixth in a row, advances the Cardinal (23-3) to tomorrow’s semifinals where it will take on the event’s third-seed, USC, at 3 p.m. Earlier this morning, the Trojans (22-4) came out on top against sixth-seeded UC Irvine, 12-5.
Stanford was never challenged on Friday, jumping out to a 3-0 lead after the first quarter thanks to two goals from Churnside (7:32 and 6:30) and one from Bonnani (1:57). Churnside tallied his first multi-goal game since Oct. 26 at Pepperdine, and 11th this season.
Pepperdine (10-14) scored its first goal to lead off the second, but then the Cardinal reeled off three more courtesy of Alex Bowen (5:32), Adam Abdulhamid (2:50) and Reid Chase (2:07). The Waves scored with 29 seconds left in the half and Stanford led 6-2 at the break.
Lets go dominate the #mpsf @StanfordMWP. This is our year #waterpolo #Stanford #stanfordwaterpolo
— Janson Wigo (@JansonWigo) November 21, 2014
The Cardinal, which scored three times in every other quarter, put home a game-high four in the third. Again, Pepperdine registered the period’s first, followed by four straight for Stanford.
Nick Hoversten rattled the cage at 5:41 and Abdulhamid scored on a 6-on-5 opportunity at 4:58. Adam Warmoth then put him his eighth of the season and first since Sept. 28 against Whittier on a power play with 2:58 on the clock. Sam Pfeil closed the period with another exclusion goal 31 seconds before the horn.
Stanford’s first fourth-quarter goal came from Hoversten (6:13) and Smith rounded out the day with two late, scoring at 2:05 and 0:42.
Drew Holland played more than three quarters, making six saves. Oliver Lewis hopped into the cage with around five minutes left in the game and contributed three stops.
The victory set up a Saturday rematch with USC, which Stanford defeated in a thrilling 11-10 game at Avery Aquatic Center on Oct. 18 when the Trojans were No. 1 in the nation and the Cardinal was third. Stanford is in search of its first MPSF title since 2004.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 7 Pepperdine
Nov. 21, 2014 • Long Beach, Calif.
PEPP 0 – 2 – 1 – 1 = 4
STAN 3 – 3 – 4 – 3 = 13
Stanford Goals: Adam Abdulhamid 2, BJ Churnside 2, Nick Hoversten 2, Cody Smith 2, Bret Bonanni, Alex Bowen, Reid Chase, Sam Pfeil, Adam Warmoth
Stanford Saves: Drew Holland 6, Oliver Lewis 3
Pepperdine Goals: Luke Hewko, Kenneth Keller, Charles Olsen, Wesley Sherburne
Pepperdine Saves: Zackery Rhodes 9