LA JOLLA, Calif. – Opening the 2023 season at the Triton Invitational on Saturday, No. 4 Stanford split a pair of decisions.
The Cardinal began the year with a 12-10 setback to No. 9 Long Beach State before rebounding to defeat No. 10 UC Irvine 13-6.
Riley Pittman finished the two matches with seven goals, including four in the opener and three more in the victory over the Anteaters. Grant Watson tallied four goals, while Ethan Parrish and Jackson Painter each contributed three.
Robert Lopez Duart opened the scoring for Long Beach State in game one, finding the cage for the first of his seven goals on the afternoon.
The Cardinal responded with goals from Harrison Rohlen and Pittman to take a 2-1 lead, but Long Beach State scored the next four to open a 5-2 lead – an advantage it would not relinquish the rest of the way - in the second quarter.
Stanford would ultimately cut the deficit to one after goals from CJ Indart and Painter, but Long Beach State once again had an answer, scoring the final two goals of the half to take a 7-4 lead into the break.
A low-scoring third quarter saw Stanford cut the lead to 8-6 after Parrish and Pittman tallied goals.
Painter's second goal on a five-meter shot to open the fourth quarter once again brought the Cardinal within one at 8-7, but three straight Long Beach goals followed to make it 11-7.
With Long Beach State burning clock down the stretch, Stanford managed to put some pressure on the 49ers, scoring three goals in the final two minutes, including Pittman's fourth of the game with 14 seconds remaining, to make it 11-10.
Unfortunately for the Cardinal, Long Beach managed to swim the clock away on the ensuing possession, capped by Lopez Duart's final shot at the buzzer to record his seventh goal and run the tally to the eventual final of 12-10.
Putting the season-opening setback in the rearview mirror, Stanford returned to the water and defeated the Anteaters in convincing fashion. Pittman continued to shine for Stanford, scoring two of his three goals in the opening quarter.
Watson also added three goals, scoring in the first, second and fourth quarters.
Stanford jumped out to the early 5-1 lead after one period, with the final goal of the stanza coming from goalkeeper Nolan Krutonog at the buzzer.
UC Irvine managed to claw within two goals at 6-4 in the second quarter, but Stanford dominated the third period. The Cardinal scored all four goals in the quarter, including the first career tally from Jack Merrill and the final two of the period from Parrish, to claim a 10-4 advantage headed to the fourth quarter.
Alex Gheorghe also recorded his first career goal to open the fourth quarter, stretching the Cardinal scoring run to 5-0 and helping Stanford to a 3-2 advantage in the period to finish off the 13-6 victory.
Stanford will conclude play at the Triton Invitational on Sunday when it meets No. 17 Cal Baptist at 8 a.m. and Concordia University at 12 p.m.LBSU 12, STAN 10
Riley Pittman (4), Jackson Painter (2), CJ Indart (1), Ethan Parrish (1), Harry Rohlen (1), Grant Watson (1).
STAN 13, UCI 6
Riley Pittman (3), Grant Watson (3), Ethan Parrish (2), Alex Gheorghe (1), CJ Indart (1), Nolan Krutonog (1), Jack Merrill (1), Jackson Painter (1).
