STANFORD, Calif. – Sophomore Ben Hallock was honored as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men's Water Polo Player of the Week on Monday, after leading No. 3 Stanford to victory over No. 1 USC on Saturday.
Hallock set the tone early with a hat trick in the first nine minutes of the contest in the 13-11 win over the Trojans. He finished with four goals and three assists overall as Stanford (9-0) handed USC (17-1) its first loss of the season. His third goal put Stanford ahead for good in the match. A key focus of the Trojan defense all match, the right-handed Hallock maneuvered around his defender in the third quarter and used his left hand to lob a ball over the goalie's head for his fourth score of the match.
A post shared by Stanford Men's Water Polo (@stanfordmwp) on Oct 7, 2018 at 10:24am PDT
The two-meter player was active on the defensive end as well, coming up with a key field block in the late stages of the contest to thwart USC's comeback attempt.
Led by Hallock, the Cardinal produced 13 goals against a USC team that had not allowed more than nine scores in a match this season prior to Saturday's contest.
Hallock, who has scored at least one goal in all but one of his 29 career matches, is third in the MPSF in scoring with a 2.75 goals-per-game average this season.
.@ben_hallock ?? trick.#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/vRy1CWuSJg
— Stanford Water Polo (@StanfordMWP) October 6, 2018
Monday was Hallock's fourth career conference weekly honor. He was voted the MPSF Newcomer of the Week three times last season and was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Year at the end of the 2017 campaign.
Stanford returns to action Thursday at home against Long Beach State at 6 p.m., before hosting the Mountain Pacific Invitational this Friday through Sunday at Avery Aquatic Center.