STANFORD, Calif. – Opening his tenure as The Dunlevie Family Director of Men's Water Polo in 2022, Brian Flacks guided Stanford to a 17-0 start – the best for a first-year head coach in program history and the best for the Cardinal since the 2001 squad also went 17-0.
The 17-0 record to open the season surpassed Dante Dettamanti's 10-0 start in his first season at the helm of the program in 1977.
Stanford, which reached No. 1 in the national rankings, finished the season 22-5 overall to post the program's most wins since 2015, but ultimately missed the national tournament and its bid for a 12th national title.
In addition to the impressive start to the season, the Cardinal also won the MPSF Invite at home, including a victory over UCLA and the first of two against eventual national champion California, and advanced to the MPSF Championship game in postseason play.
Individually, Stanford featured a pair of All-Americans as Quinn Woodhead and Jackson Painter were both honored by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC). Woodhead was picked for the first team, while Painter earned a second-team nod, extending Stanford's ledger of multiple All-Americans to every season since 1975.
Finishing his career as a four-time All-American, Woodhead earned first-team honors for the first time, leading the Cardinal both in and out of the pool all fall. He ranked second on the team with 45 goals, playing all 27 games. His 15 multi-goal performances also ranked second on the squad. A force on both ends of the pool, his 15 field blocks were the most in the MPSF.
Painter's All-America honor was the first of his career after a dominating junior season. He led the entire MPSF with 67 goals, including 18 multi-goal performances. His 99 points were the best in the league as he also added 32 recorded assists. His season-high of five goals came four different times, while he scored in 25 of Stanford's 27 contests.
Woodhead and Painter also headlined a group of five Stanford standouts on the All-MPSF team. Woodhead, selected for the fourth time in his career, landed on the first team, while Painter, Nolan Krutonog and Larsen Weigle earned spots the second team. Rounding out the selections, Riley Pittman was listed as an honorable mention selection. With the five, Stanford has now placed at least four on the All-MPSF teams for seven years in a row.
Playing every second in goal for the Cardinal, Krutonog compiled an MPSF-best 240 saves while averaging 8.89 saves per game over his 27 contests to rank second in the conference. He also finished eighth in the MPSF in recorded steals with 25. Krutonog featured 13 double-digit save performances, including a season-best 15 stops on two occasions.
Pittman checked in with 33 goals for the Cardinal to rank sixth, featuring eight multi-goal performances. He had a season-high of three goals in five different games.
Weigle ranked eighth on the team with 27 goals this fall, playing in all 27 contests. The native of Atherton, Calif. featured six multi-goal performances, notching a hat trick in three different games.
Following the conclusion of his playing career on The Farm, Weigle was awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship for his academic and athletic achievements. NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship winners receive a one-time grant of $10,000. In addition to maintaining at least a 3.2 grade-point average, they must perform with distinction in their sport and be nominated by their institution's faculty athletics representative.
