STANFORD, Calif. – No. 4 Stanford moved to 8-2 on the season today with a 19-14 win over No. 11 Pepperdine. The Card’s home-opening win featured five goals each from Botond Balogh and Gianpiero Di Martire, as the Stanford offense caught fire in the second half to close the win.
The Card took a 3-1 lead after the first quarter, with goals coming from CJ Indart, Chase McFarland and Botond Balogh. In the cage, West Temkin made three saves while also assisting on two of the three goals to help his own cause.
Balogh and Temkin kept it up in the second, extending the lead to three with a 6-3 score at halftime. Balogh ended the half with two goals and two assists, while Temkin went into the break with three saves and three assists.
The Cardinal offense broke out in the third, scoring seven goals to make it a 13-6 lead heading into the fourth. Gianpiero Di Martire scored twice in the quarter, giving him a hat trick.
Both offenses caught fire in the fourth, combining for 14 goals to make for a 19-14 final score. When all was said and done, Balogh and Di Martire both finished with five goals, while Alex Gheorghe added in four scores himself.
Balogh’s scoring outburst gave him back-to-back games with four or more goals. Ben Forer led the Cardinal with four assists, and Temkin finished with seven saves and three assists.
The Card is at home again next week, hosting No. 3 USC on Saturday and No. 1 UCLA on Sunday. Tickets for both games are available at Tickets.GoStanford.com, and games will be streamed on Overnght.
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 11 Pepperdine
PEPP 1 – 2 – 3 – 8 = 14
STAN 3 – 3 – 7 – 6 = 19
STAN Goals: B. Balogh (5), G. Di Martire (5), A. Gheorghe (4), CJ Indart, C. McFarland, R. Ohl, B. Forer, M. Zelikov
PEPP Goals: E. Ionescu (3), M. Walsh (3), J. Carcarey (2), D. Howell (2), B. Barnuevo, R. Pantaleon, S. Gal, C. Bella