STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford driver Bret Bonanni was named #GoStanford Student-Athlete of the Week for his performances in the Cardinal's two games at last weekend's NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship in La Jolla, Calif.
Bonanni scored three times in Saturday's semifinal against USC before exploding for eight in a win over UC San Diego on Sunday, as the Cardinal finished third for the second consecutive year.
The science, technology and society major's eight scores were just one shy of the single-game record in the history of the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship. Greg Carey of UC Santa Barbara scored nine against Yale in 1972 and Blake Hinman of Texas A&M did the same against Pittsburgh in 1976. Bonnani was named to the 2014 Men's Water Polo All-Tournament First Team for his efforts.
His 11 total goals this year in La Jolla are the most in NCAA Championship history since Doug Munz scored 11 for Navy in 1994. It’s also the second-highest total in Stanford history at the NCAA Championship behind James Bergeson’s 12 in 1981, however both of those marks came in three games. From 1969 through 1994 the event was composed of eight teams. Since 1995 it has been composed of four teams. Ivan Babic (USC; 2000) and Balazs Erdelyi (Pacific; 2013) held the previous two-game record of nine.
Bonanni finished his junior campaign with 96 goals, just one shy of the single-season school-record 97 he tallied a year ago. He will enter his senior season on The Farm with 266 career scores, just 66 shy of Tony Azevedo’s Stanford and MPSF record (332). Bonanni is the only Cardinal in history to post multiple 90-goal seasons.