PRINCETON, N.J. – No. 4 Stanford men's water polo opened the season with a commanding performance Friday morning, defeating No. 13 Princeton, 21-3, at DuNunzio Pool in the opening match of the three-day Princeton Invitational.
The Cardinal (1-0) was on the attack from the first sprint, surging out to an 8-0 advantage after one quarter. Stanford scored the first nine goals of the contest overall, holding Princeton scoreless for the first 8:51.
Multiple first-half goals from sophomore Ben Hallock, junior Bennett Williams and freshman AJ Rossman led the Cardinal to a 10-1 lead at the half.
Stanford added three more in the third quarter and eight in the final period, while surrendering just one goal in each quarter for the 18-goal victory.
Williams led the scoring barrage with five goals, as one of four members of the Cardinal with a hat trick in the match. Sophomore Tyler Abramson posted a career high four goals, while Hallock and Rossman recorded three scores apiece.
Senior Blake Parrish, Stanford's active career scoring leader, added two scores to his career tally in Friday's win and now has 112 in his career.
After redshirting the 2017 season, senior Oliver Lewis returned to goal for the Cardinal on Friday. He finished with 10 saves, playing the entire match.
The Cardinal will meet No. 1 UCLA in an exhibition contest at 1 p.m. PT Friday, before Saturday matches with St. Francis College at 4:30 a.m. PT and Johns Hopkins at 8:15 a.m. PT. The Cardinal will conclude play in the weekend invitational on Sunday against Navy at 10:45 a.m. PT.
