STANFORD, Calif. – No. 1 Stanford cruised past No. 18 San Jose State, 15-7, Friday evening at Avery Aquatic Center in its opening match of the Mountain Pacific Invitational.
With the win, Stanford improved to 11-0 on the season and matched its best start since 2009. The Cardinal, the No. 3 seed in the three-day tournament, advanced to play either No. 6-seed Pacific or No. 11-seed UC Irvine Saturday at noon at Avery Pool.
Stanford found itself behind by two goals for the first time in a while, but the Cardinal quickly erased the deficit with three goals in the final 3:36 of the opening period. Sophomore Ben Hallock netted a pair of scores and freshman Jackson Seybold found the back of the cage for a 3-2 edge after the first quarter.
Hallock put Stanford up, 5-2, with two more scores in the first 1:29 of the second quarter.
Junior Bennett Williams countered a pair of San Jose State goals with three scores in the final 4:34 of the half as Stanford stretched its lead to 9-4 at the break.
The Cardinal continued to add to its advantage as leading scorer Tyler Abramson opened the second half with consecutive goals and Blake Parrish converted a penalty shot for a 12-4 lead.
Stanford took a 13-6 lead into the fourth as sophomore Duncan Mactavish scored the first of his career-high tying four goals on Friday in the third period.
Freshman Parker Killion also matched his career-high with a pair of scores and redshirt freshman Spencer Nelson scored his first career goal, as Stanford rattled the cage six times in the fourth to seal its 11th win by double digits this season.
Senior Oliver Lewis posted six saves, before handing goalie duties over to freshman George Hagestad to start the fourth. Hagestad finished with three stops.