WHAT’S NEXT: No. 2 Stanford travels to Los Angeles, Calif. for a matchup with No. 3 USC on Saturday at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center in a matchup of two of the top men’s water polo programs in the nation. It will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams. Stanford earned a 6-5 victory over USC in the semifinals of the NorCal Invitational at the Avery Aquatic Center on Sept. 20.
HOW TO FOLLOW: Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on the Pac-12 Networks with Jim Watson and Greg Mescall on the call. Fans can also follow online with live stats by clicking here.
A LOOK AT THE POLLS: The Cardinal remains at the No. 2 spot in this week’s Collegiate Water Polo Association national poll. There wasn’t any movement in the top 12 teams in the latest poll released on Wednesday. USC remains No. 3.
CHASING THE RECORD: Senior Bret Bonanni enters Saturday’s game at USC just 23 goals shy from tying Tony Azevedo’s Stanford and MPSF record of 332 from 2001-04. After concluding his junior season with a conference-leading 96 goals, he has a team-leading 43 goals in Stanford’s first 13 games. The senior recorded a career-best nine goals in the season-opening victory over MIT on Sept. 5. Bonanni is the only Cardinal in history to post multiple 90-goal seasons. He recorded 11 goals in Stanford’s four games at the Aggie Roundup last weekend on the UC Davis campus.
Bonanni has recorded 79 career multiple goal games and 60 career hat tricks.
51 STRAIGHT: Senior Bret Bonanni scored at least one goal in 51 straight games from Oct. 13, 2013 to Sept. 20, 2015. His streak was snapped when he was held scoreless in Stanford’s 6-5 victory No. 2 USC in the semifinals of the NorCal Invitational.
NINE IN A ROW: Stanford’s eight wins to open the 2015 season, coupled with its victory over UCSD in the NCAA Third Place game to close the 2014 campaign, gave the Cardinal nine-straight wins. It’s the longest winning streak since Stanford won 11 consecutive contests during the 2013 season.
MPSF LEADER: Senior Bret Bonanni (43) leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in scoring, averaging 3.31 goals per game. Redshirt junior Adam Abdulhamid (35) ranks third in the league, averaging 2.69 goals per game. Senior Drew Holland ranks third among regular starters in the MPSF in goals against average at 5.45.
As a team, Stanford ranks second in both scoring (17.38 Goals/Game) and defense (giving up 4.85 Goals/Game).
MOST GOALS SINCE: Stanford’s 29 goals against MIT on Sept. 5 were its most in a game in nearly three decades, matching the Cardinal’s 29 scores against Harvard in the Brown Invitational on Sept. 26, 1986.
19 IN SIX: Stanford scored at least 19 goals in six straight games (first six games of the season) for the first time in the John Vargas era (dating back to 2002). The Cardinal posted 19 each against St. Francis Brooklyn and Brown, 20 against Bucknell, 21 against Harvard and a season-best 29 against MIT. The streak started with a 20-goal performance against UCSD in the NCAA third-place game on Dec. 7, 2014.
ABDULHAMID SCORING: Redshirt junior Adam Abdulhamid is coming off a 14-goal performance in four wins at the Aggie Roundup. He is second on the team with 35 for the season. The 35 goals in 13 games has already surpassed his 31 goals in 30 games during the 2014 season. Abdulhamid has scored a career-high five goals twice this season, in the season opener against MIT and against Santa Clara last weekend.
LAST TIME VS. USC: Stanford used three goals from Mitchell Mendoza and 12 saves from goalkeeper Drew Holland to earn a hard-fought 6-5 victory over previously undefeated USC in the Kap7 NorCal Invitational semifinals Sept. 20 at Avery Aquatic Center. The Cardinal jumped out to a 3-0 first-half lead with goals from Reid Chase, Adam Abdulhamid and Mendoza. After trading goals to open the second half, USC scored three unanswered goals as Blake Edwards scored the equalizer with 4:45 to play in the fourth. The Trojans’ lead didn’t last long, however, as Blake Parrish scored from the corner with 4:36 to play to give the Cardinal a 5-4 advantage. Mendoza recorded the hat trick, scoring with 2:12 to play to give Stanford a 6-4 edge. Edwards countered with a hat trick of his own for USC, cutting Stanford’s lead to 6-5 with under two minutes left, but Holland closed the door on the Trojans, sealing the win for the Cardinal.