STANFORD, Calif. - No. 1 Stanford fell behind early and could not make up the deficit in a 15-10 defeat to No. 2 UC Santa Barbara at Avery Aquatic Center on Friday afternoon.
The Gauchos scored the first two and six of the first seven to take a 6-1 lead with 2:11 remaining in the opening half.
Stanford fought back. Ben Hallock scored the final goal of the half and the first goal of the second half to close to within 6-3 with 6:54 left in the third quarter. Then Dylan Woodhead and Hallock scored back-to-back to make it a 7-5 deficit with more than two minutes left in the third.
USCB led 9-7 after three quarters and it was 10-8 with just over five minutes remaining, but the Gauchos held off the Cardinal from there and added some insurance in the final minutes.
Hallock had a hat trick, Woodhead scored twice and Bennett Williams added a pair. Quinn Woodhead had a game-high four assists and Andrew Chun made 12 saves for the Cardinal.
Next up, Stanford heads to UC Davis on Saturday for a 2:15 p.m. matchup with the Aggies.