SANTA CLARA, Calif. – No. 3 Stanford picked up a third-straight top-six win this afternoon, dominating No.5 Fordham to win 19-10 in a neutral-site game at Santa Clara. The Cardinal ended with 17 exclusions drawn, as Gianpiero Di Martire, Botond Balogh and Ben Forer led the offensive outburst.
“We’ve had a few good weeks of training and as a young team, I think we’re getting better every game,” said Dunlevie Family Director of Men’s Water Polo Brian Flacks. “We didn’t get a chance to play Fordham last year and thought it was important to get them on the schedule. I hope today builds some momentum as we head into the second half of our conference schedule next week in Los Angeles.”
Fordham struck first to go ahead 1-0, but the Card responded with four-straight goals to end the first period with a 4-1 lead. Giapiero Di Martire scored twice in the first to lead the way, while West Temkin made five saves to protect the early advantage.
Di Martire added three more scores in the second period, expanding the Cardinal’s lead at 11-6 heading into halftime.
Stanford ended the first half with 10 exclusions drawn, capitalizing on five of eight powerplays and scoring on two penalties.
The Card kept pouring it on in the second half, outscoring the Rams 5-2 in the third and 3-2 in the fourth to ice the win.
Di Martire and Botond Balogh each finished with five goals to lead all scorers. Balogh did his damage on just five shots, chipping in three assists and three steals as well. Di Martire finished with two assists and two steals to round out his statline.
Leading the way in total points was Ben Forer with four goals and five assists.
Cardinal centers Will Schneider and Alex Gheorghe each drew five exclusions, accounting for 10 of Fordham’s 17 exclusions on the day. In the cage, Temkin finished with 14 saves.
Next up for the Cardinal is a southern California weekend, heading on the road for a Saturday game at No. 2 UCLA and a Sunday bout with No. 1 USC. Both games are scheduled to start at 1:00 p.m. PT, and will be streamed on Overnght.
No. 3 Stanford vs. No. 5 Fordham
FORD 1 – 5 – 2 – 2 = 10
STAN 4 – 7 – 5 – 3 = 19
STAN Goals: G. Di Martire (5), B. Balogh (5), B. Forer (4), R. Ohl, C. McFarland, M. Zelikov, G. Leonardi, W. Schneider
FORD Goals: L. Provenziani (3), B. Berenyi, A. Toth, M. Dyck, L. Silvestri, B. Eppel, G. Farrugia, A. Salipante