No. 3 Stanford (8-0, 0-0 MPSF) vs. No. 1 USC (17-0, 0-0 MPSF) | Saturday • 2 p.m.
Avery Aquatic Center • Stanford, Calif.
Pac-12 Bay Area
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STANFORD, Calif. – No. 3 Stanford opens Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with a Saturday showdown against No. 1 USC at 2 p.m. at Avery Aquatic Center. Admission is free as gates open at 1 p.m.
HOW TO FOLLOW: Saturday's game will be televised live on Pac-12 Bay Area with Stanford alum Kevin Danna calling the action from the pool deck. Check @StanfordMWP as well for updates throughout the match.
Nice addition to Avery for Saturday. ?? pic.twitter.com/Azc4ZvLBs8
— Stanford Water Polo (@StanfordMWP) October 2, 2018
STRONG START: Stanford is 8-0 to start the season, matching its best start since the 2015 season. The Cardinal has defeated five nationally-ranked teams during the stretch.
RANKINGS: Stanford is ranked No. 3 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association Poll. The Cardinal remained at No. 3 for the third consecutive week. Stanford has been in the top five of the national poll every week over the past three seasons. USC is ranked No. 1 in the latest CWPA poll.
LAST TIME OUT: Stanford scored the first nine goals and never looked back, en route to a 16-3 victory over No. 17 San Jose State last Saturday at Avery Aquatic Center. Sophomore Ben Hallock led the scoring attack for the Cardinal with four goals in the match, including three in the first 4:09 of the contest.
WILLIAMS GOES WILD: Junior Bennett Williams has a team-best 25 goals in Stanford's eight matches this season. He has scored at least one goal in every match with multiple scores in six contests. The junior posted a career-best six-goal performance in the win at No. 10 Pepperdine on Sept. 23. He leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in scoring at 3.13 goals per game.
IMPRESSIVE SCORING STREAK: Sophomore Ben Hallock scored at least one goal in each of his first 26 career matches, including all 20 he played in as a freshman and the first six of his sophomore season. He totaled 70 goals altogether in his first 26 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. The next match, last Saturday against San Jose State, he tallied three goals in the first 4:09 of the match and four overall in the first quarter. The First Team All-American has 74 career goals in 28 career matches.
CARDINAL PACES MPSF IN INDIVIDUAL SCORING: The Cardinal occupies the top three spots in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in scoring with Bennett Williams (3.13 gpg), Tyler Abramson (3.00 gpg) and Ben Hallock (2.57 gpg). As a team, Stanford ranks second to USC (18.24 gpg) in scoring with 17.13 goals per contest.
SECOND QUARTER SCORING: Stanford has earned eight victories by multiple goals and the second quarter is where the Cardinal has begun to pull away from its opponent. Over the eight matches, Stanford has out-scored its opponent 33-5 in the second period.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Nine of the 13 members of the Cardinal that have scored at least one goal this year are in either their freshman or sophomore year of eligibility. Sophomore Tyler Abramson ranks second on the team in scoring with 24 goals, while fellow sophomore Ben Hallock ranks third in scoring with 18 goals in seven matches. In all, six newcomers have scored goals this season, including Jackson Seybold (12), Josh Orrick (7), AJ Rossman (7), Parker Killion (4), Zack LaGrange (3) and Quinn Woodhead (2).
True freshman goalie George Hagestad has played one quarter in the cage against both Johns Hopkins and No. 20 Santa Clara, recording two saves in each contest.
LEWIS LEADS MPSF: Fifth-year senior Oliver Lewis leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with a 4.67 goal-against average. The Cardinal keeper has surrendered 35 goals in 30 quarters. He ranks second in saves per game with 12.53 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.
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 1,005-308-8.
ACTIVE SCORING LEADER: Senior All-American Blake Parrish is Stanford's active career scoring leader. After registering 16 goals in eight matches this season, he enters this weekend with 126 career scores.
FINA WORLD CUP: Sophomore Ben Hallock and junior Dylan Woodhead traveled to Germany last month to compete with USA Water Polo in the FINA World Cup. They joined former Stanford All-American Alex Bowen as Cardinal representatives on the World Cup roster. Team USA claimed sixth place in the FINA World Cup, with all three Stanford representatives recording multiple goals during the tournament. With Hallock's and Woodhead's whirlwind trip to Germany with USA Water Polo, the Cardinal duo missed Stanford's win over Sant Clara on Sept. 15.
A LOOK AT USC: USC is a perfect 17-0 on the season and holds the No. 1 spot in the Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings. The Trojans, who have beaten several ranked teams, are coming off a 16-2 victory over No. 5 UC Santa Barbara at home this past Sunday. USC also leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in scoring at 18.24 goals-per-game. Marko Vavic is the Trojans scoring leader at 2.29 goals-per-game. Nic Porter owns a 6.29 goals-against average in the cage for USC.
Top-3 showdown at Avery Saturday. #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Men's Water Polo (@stanfordmwp) on Oct 3, 2018 at 10:43am PDT
2017 RECAP: The Cardinal finished 19-5 and ranked fourth in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association poll in 2017. Stanford defeated California, 11-10, in last year's Big Splash to secure a share of the 2017 MPSF regular-season title and the top-seed in the MPSF Tournament.
NEW LOOK IN 2018: Stanford presents a different look this fall, with 10 letterwinners from last year's team graduated following the 2017 campaign, including five All-Americans.
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 330-102 record that includes the 2002 NCAA title in his stellar career as the leader of the Stanford program.