LA JOLLA, Calif. - The Stanford men's water polo team moved to a perfect 4-0 start to the season today, thanks to a pair of wins to wrap up the team's four games at UC San Diego's Triton Invitational.
Stanford cruised to a 24-4 win over Concordia in the first game of the day, led by Jack Merrill's career-best six goals. Alex Gheorghe and Tanner Pulice each added in their first hat tricks of the season, while Soren Jensen, Jackson Painter, Guido Leonardi and Ben Forer all added in a pair of scores.
Forer's two goals were his first for the Cardinal. The Stanford defense shut Concordia out in the second half, after allowing three goals in the first and just one in the second.
In the afternoon bout with No. 6 UC Irvine, it was a second-half effort that carried the Card to a 14-5 win. Stanford led 6-4 going into halftime, but outscored the Anteaters 6-0 in the third and 2-1 in the fourth to secure the victory.
Riley Pittman led the way to victory, scoring three times and dishing out three assists as well to contribute to six of the Cardinal's 14 goals.
Stanford wraps the weekend with four wins in 24 hours, outscoring opponents a combined 73-22 with a pair of top-eight wins.
The Cardinal is at home on Thursday, hosting UCSB at Avery Aquatic Center. The action gets underway at 4:00 p.m. PT.
No. 3 Stanford vs. Concordia
CUI 3 – 1 – 0 – 0 = 4
STAN 9 – 5 – 8 – 2 = 24
STAN Goals: J. Merrill (6), A. Gheorghe (3), T. Pulice (3), S. Jensen (2), J. Painter (2), G. Leonardi (2), B. Forer (2)*, C. McFarland, D. McFarland, G. West, W. Schneider
CUI Goals: J. Stuart (2), K. Young, S. Diamond
No. 3 Stanford vs. No. 6 UC Irvine
UCI 1 – 3 – 0 – 1 = 5
STAN 2 – 4 – 6 – 2 = 14
STAN Goals: R. Pittman (3), R. Ohl (3), G. West (2), J. Painter (2), D. McFarland (2), C. McFarland, C.J. Indart
UCI Goals: L. Krstic (2), G. Verdegaal, J. Thrall, T. Laymon