No. 3 Stanford (17-2, 1-1) at No. 4 California (16-4, 1-1) | Saturday • 12:00 p.m.
Spieker Aquatics Complex • Berkeley, Calif.
Television: Pac-12 Network
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STANFORD, Calif. – A second consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season championship and the Steve Heaston Trophy are both on the line on Saturday, as No. 3 Stanford heads to No. 4 California for the Big Splash at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
THE MPSF SCENARIO: If the Cardinal defeats California and USC defeats UCLA on Saturday, Stanford will secure its second consecutive conference regular-season crown. Stanford, California, UCLA and USC are each 1-1 entering the final week of the regular season. The Cardinal defeated USC on Oct. 6 on The Farm and fell at UCLA last week.
HOW TO FOLLOW: Stanford's game at California will be carried live on Pac-12 Networks, with Stanford alum Kevin Danna calling the action from Spieker Aquatics Complex.
LAST YEAR'S BIG SPLASH: No. 3 Stanford used a huge third quarter to surge ahead of top-ranked California, and the Cardinal held off the Bears at the end for the 11-10 Big Splash victory at Avery Aquatic Center. With the win, Stanford brought the Steve Heaston Trophy back to The Farm, after three years in Berkeley.
RANKINGS: Stanford is ranked No. 3 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 eight weeks. California is No. 4 in the latest CWPA poll.
HALLOCK HONORED AGAIN: Sophomore Ben Hallock was voted the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week on Oct. 29, marking his fifth career weekly honor over his first two seasons on The Farm. The two-meter standout was recognized following his nine-goal performance in two Cardinal wins. He scored a career-best eight goals in Sunday's victory over No. 11 UC Irvine. It's the most goals in a game by a Cardinal since Bret Bonanni recorded nine scores against MIT on Sept. 25, 2015. Hallock registered a hat trick in the first 4:09 of the contest and had five goals by halftime. In Saturday's win over No. 9 UC Davis, Hallock recorded a first quarter score.
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 12 matches since that Sept. 23 contest, the First Team All-American has recorded 39 goals and enters this week's game with 109 career goals in 38 career matches.
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 2.94 goals-per-game. Bennett Williams is third with an average of 2.47 goals-per-game. Tyler Abramson is fourth at 2.37 goals-per-game.
SECOND-QUARTER SCORING: Stanford has earned 15 victories by multiple goals and the second quarter is where the Cardinal has begun to pull away from its opponent. In 19 games this season, Stanford has out-scored its opponent 74-34 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. Sophomore Ben Hallock leads the team in scoring with 53 goals, while fellow sophomore Tyler Abramson is second with 45 goals. In all, six newcomers have scored goals this season, including Jackson Seybold (25), AJ Rossman (13), Josh Orrick (10), Parker Killion (7), Quinn Woodhead (7), 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 on Oct. 13.
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 in saves, with 11.46 stops per game. He ranks third in goals-against average at 7.06. 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 14 of 18 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 1,011-310-8.
ACTIVE SCORING LEADER: Senior All-American Blake Parrish is Stanford's active career scoring leader. After registering 36 goals in 19 matches this season, he enters this weekend with 146 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 338-104 record that includes the 2002 NCAA title in his stellar career as the leader of the Stanford program.