STANFORD, Calif. -- The Stanford men's water polo team ended the 2019 season right where it began: at No. 1.
Led by redshirt junior two-meter standout Ben Hallock, the Cardinal posted an impressive 21-2 overall record and won its 11th NCAA Championship and 12th national title, its first since 2002. Stanford repeated as Mountain Pacific Sports Federation champion, as Hallock won his second consecutive MVP honor and John Vargas, The Dunlevie Family Director of Men's Water Polo, earned Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
Stanford secured the No. 1 seed for the NCAA Championships in Stockton, Calif., where it reversed a regular-season loss against defending NCAA champion USC in the semifinals. Hallock scored a golden goal to lift the Cardinal to a heart-pounding 15-14 sudden-death overtime victory in a driving rain in front of a frenzied sellout crowd at the University of Pacific. Senior Bennett Williams made it possible by winning the sprint in the third overtime. Sophomore Quinn Woodhead tallied a season-high five goals, while Hallock and junior Tyler Abramson added four to spark the Stanford attack.
In the final against Pacific, the Cardinal never trailed and rolled to a 13-8 win against the host Tigers, as Hallock and sophomore AJ Rossman netted three goals.
Stanford's 2002 NCAA title was accomplished by defeating Cal in the final, 7-6. It was first year on The Farm for Vargas.
The Cardinal has now won an NCAA men's water polo crown in five consecutive decades, the only program at Stanford to accomplish the feat.
Stanford claimed the MPSF crown for the seventh time in school history (1994, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2014 and 2018), beating Cal in Berkeley, Calif., 17-11. Abramson pumped in four goals to lead the way.
For the second consecutive year, Hallock was selected Division I Men's Water Polo Player of the Year by the Association of College Water Polo Coaches, while Vargas garnered National Coach of the Year. Hallock, Abramson, Williams, Rossman, Quinn Woodhead, Dylan Woodhead and Andrew Chun were named All-Americans.
Fifteen Cardinal student-athletes were recognized as Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Academic Scholar Athletes: Abramson (3.446); Hallock (3.544); redshirt sophomore Parker Killion (3.709); redshirt sophomore Zack LaGrange (3.470); Williams (3.632); senior Dylan Woodhead (3.437); sophomore Quinn Woodhead (3.000); Chun (3.066); Rossman (3.872); sophomore Nik Caryotakis (3.971); redshirt sophomore Spencer Hanson (3.424); sophomore Wyatt Hanson (3.151); sophomore Jackson Seybold (3.342); redshirt sophomore Spencer Nelson (3.006); and redshirt junior Duncan Mactavish (3.039).
Williams was recognized for the fourth consecutive year, Hallock and Dylan Woodhead for the third straight year, and Abramson repeated from 2018.
• Hallock became the second student-athlete in program history to repeat as Player of the Year, and fourth overall. Tony Azevedo won it three consecutive times (2001-03), along with Wolf Wigo (1994) and Craig Klass (1986)
• Hallock led the team in goals (73) for the third straight season and scored multiple goals in 18-of-22 matches
• Abramson scored a team-high 96 points, drilling 63 goals, pilfered a team-best 24 steals, and was 19-8 in sprints
• Williams scored 50 goals, had 20 assists, 14 steals and tallied multiple goals in 19 games
• Chun finished with a 19-2 mark as goalkeeper, had 211 saves, and secured a career-high 18 stops against Pepperdine
• During one stretch, Stanford won 10 matches in a row
• Vargas has produced 11 20-win seasons and 78 All-Americans during his tenure at Stanford