No. 2 Stanford (15-1) vs. No. 9 UC Davis (13-5) | Saturday • 12 p.m.
Avery Aquatic Center • Stanford, Calif.
Live Stream | Live Stats
No. 2 Stanford (15-1) vs. No. 11 UC Irvine (7-10) | Sunday • 1 p.m.
Avery Aquatic Center • Stanford, Calif.
Live Stream |Live Stats
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STANFORD, Calif. – No. 2 Stanford men's water polo celebrates its three seniors – Oliver Lewis, Blake Parrish and Marco Stanchi – this weekend as the Cardinal closes its 11-match homestand with No. 9 UC Davis on Saturday at noon and No. 11 UC Irvine on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Avery Aquatic Center.
HOW TO FOLLOW: A live stream, along with live stats, will be available for both games on GoStanford.com (direct links above). For additional updates throughout both matches, follow @StanfordMWP on Twitter.
SENIOR SALUTE: Stanford will celebrate the outstanding accomplishments of its three seniors during Sunday's match.
A fifth-year senior from Honolulu, Hawaii, who is majoring in earth systems, Oliver Lewis is in his second season as Stanford's starting goalie. He has totaled 401 career saves, starting in the cage this season and during the 2016 campaign. A three-time Association of Water Polo Coaches All-Academic selection and a 2016 All-MPSF pick, Lewis has made his mark on the Stanford program. He is second in the MPSF in both goals-against average and saves per game this season. Lewis posted a career-best 17 saves in the win at Pepperdine earlier this year, capturing MPSF Player of the Week honors.
Parrish is Stanford's active scoring leader with 139 career goals. A two-time All-American and two-time All-MPSF selection, the Goleta, California, native has been a standout for the Cardinal throughout his career. His achievements go beyond the pool, as the computer science major was honored as a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection (encompassing several sports) and has earned Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Academic All-America honors each of his first three years.
Stanchi has been a standout for the Cardinal throughout his career. He enters this weekend's matches with 40 career goals. A three-time all-academic honoree, the computer science major has been recognized for his performance in the classroom by both the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches and the MPSF. Among his more memorable goals, the Bellevue, Washington, native registered a third-quarter score in Stanford's victory over No. 1 California in the Big Splash last season. The senior, who owns seven goals this fall, tallied an important goal in the Cardinal's victory over No. 1 USC earlier this month at Avery Aquatic Center.
BEST START IN A DECADE: Stanford's 15-1 record matches its best start in 10 seasons. The Cardinal opened the 2009 campaign 19-1.
PAIR OF CONVINCING WINS LAST WEEK: Stanford earned a pair of convincing wins last weekend, defeating No. 20 Wagner 19-4 and No. 7 Pacific 15-7. The Cardinal had at least a five-goal lead at the half in both matches. In Sunday's win over the Tigers, sophomores Ben Hallock and Tyler Abramson each had five scores. Hallock led Stanford with seven goals in the two wins last week, while Abramson posted six scores in the two contests.
RANKINGS: Stanford is ranked No. 2 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association Poll released on Wednesday. The Cardinal has been in the top five of the national poll every week over the past three seasons and has been ranked among the top three each of the past six weeks. UC Davis is No. 9 and UC Irvine is No. 11 in the latest CWPA poll.
SEYBOLD HONORED AS MPSF NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: Freshman Jackson Seybold was voted the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Newcomer of the Week on Monday, following a four-goal performance in two wins last week. Seybold leads all freshmen and is fifth on the team in scoring overall with 23 goals on the year.
MPSF LEADER BOARD: Stanford owns three of the top four spots in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation scoring leaderboard. Ben Hallock ranks second in the MPSF with an average of 2.80 goals-per-game. Tyler Abramson is third at 2.63 goals-per-game. Bennett Williams is fourth with an average of 2.50 goals-per-game.
HALLOCK'S IMPRESSIVE SCORING STREAK: Sophomore Ben Hallock scored at least one goal in each of his first 25 career matches, including all 20 he played in as a freshman and the first five he played this season (missed Santa Clara match while playing with USA Water Polo). He totaled 70 goals altogether in his first 25 matches on The Farm. Despite having his scoring streak snapped in the Sept. 23 win at Pepperdine, Hallock still contributed to the Cardinal offense with an assist in the victory. In the nine matches since that Sept. 23 contest, the First Team All-American has recorded 28 goals and enters this week's games with 98 career goals in 35 career matches.
SECOND-QUARTER SCORING: Stanford has earned 13 victories by multiple goals and the second quarter is where the Cardinal has begun to pull away from its opponent. In 16 games this season, Stanford has out-scored its opponent 65-25 in the second period.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Ten of the 14 members of the Cardinal that have scored at least one goal this year are in either their freshman or sophomore year of eligibility. Sophomores Ben Hallock and Tyler Abramson lead the team in scoring with 42 goals apiece. In all, six newcomers have scored goals this season, including Jackson Seybold (23), AJ Rossman (13), Josh Orrick (10), Parker Killion (7), Quinn Woodhead (5), Zack LaGrange (4) and Spencer Nelson (1).
Seybold scored the game-winning goal with one second remaining in the 8-7 victory over No. 2 UCLA in the Mountain Pacific Invitational semifinals last Saturday.
True freshman goalie George Hagestad has played six quarters in the cage with 12 saves on the year.
LEWIS AMONG MPSF LEADERS: Fifth-year senior Oliver Lewis is second the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with a 6.46 goal-against average. The Cardinal keeper has surrendered 95 goals in 58.85625 quarters. He ranks second in saves per game with 11.83 per contest. Lewis was voted the MPSF Player of the Week Sept. 24 following career-best save totals in Stanford's wins at No. 5 UC Santa Barbara and No. 10 Pepperdine. He posted a then-career-best 15 saves and limited the Gauchos to their second-lowest point total this year. In the 13-7 victory at No. 10 Pepperdine, Lewis topped his previous career-high save total for the second day in a row, recording 17 saves. Lewis has posted double-digit save totals in 12 of 16 matches this season.
1,000 WINS: Stanford recorded its milestone 1,000th career win in program history Sept. 8 with a 23-6 victory against Johns Hopkins at the Princeton Invitational. Stanford's all-time record is 1,009-309-8.
ACTIVE SCORING LEADER: Senior All-American Blake Parrish is Stanford's active career scoring leader. After registering 29 goals in 16 matches this season, he enters this weekend with 139 career scores.
VARGAS IN 17TH SEASON ON THE FARM: Dunlevie Family Director of Men's Water Polo, John Vargas, is in his 17th season on The Farm. He has directed the Cardinal to a 336-103 record that includes the 2002 NCAA title in his stellar career as the leader of the Stanford program.