STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford’s offense came out firing this afternoon, and the Cardinal put the clamps on No. 10 Long Beach state in the second half to pick up a 19-11 win. The fourth-ranked Card was led by Botond Balogh’s seven goals, and moved to 9-4 on the season.
“The last time we played Long Beach State it was a great game, it went to overtime so I think this was a good litmus test for where we are right now,” said Dunlevie Family Director of Men’s Water Polo Brian Flacks. “Hopefully we can build some momentum going into our big conference game next week against California, which is a huge game for us.”
The Stanford offense started fast out of the gates, scoring seven goals in the first period to take the early lead. Gianpiero Di Martire, Alex Gheorghe and Botond Balogh all scored twice in the period to quickly give them each a multi-goal game.
The Card added to the lead in the second period, with Balogh adding another pair of goals to his tally. Heading into halftime, the Cardinal led by a score of 10-6.
In the third period, the Cardinal broke the game wide open. Balogh added two more goals as Stanford outscored Long Beach 6-0 in the period to take a 16-6 lead into the final eight minutes.
“Really good job out of the third quarter, I thought that’s where we really separated,” added Flacks.”
A 5-3 Long Beach advantage in the fourth quarter cut into the final margin, but the Cardinal held on for a comfortable 19-11 win.
Balogh’s seven goals are a career high, eclipsing his six scored in the season-opening win at LMU. The sophomore adds to his team leading totals in points (64), goals (40) and assists (24).
The Card is back in action next weekend, hosting No. 2 California on Friday at 3:00 p.m. PT and No. 9 UC Davis on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT. Tickets for the MPSF game against California are available at Tickets.GoStanford.com, but the game against UC Davis will be free admission. Both games will be streamed on Overnght.
No. 4 Stanford vs. No. 10 LBSU
LBSU 4 – 2 – 0 – 5 = 11
STAN 7 – 3 – 6 – 3 = 19
STAN Goals: B. Balogh (7), A. Gheorghe (3), G. Di Martire (2), B. Forer (2), M. Zelikov (2), R. Ohl (2), O. Zervoudakis
LBSU Goals: C. Francisco (3), M. Frigola (2), C. Stanley, G. Acosta, A. Johnson, K. Kapragkos, A. Diaz, M. Soybel