2014 Stanford Men's Water Polo

STANFORD, Calif. – The 2014 Stanford men’s water polo program posted its highest win total since 1994 (27) and won the Cardinal’s first MPSF Championship since 2004. It finished third at the NCAA Championships and has made back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since it went five straight years from 2001 to 2005.

NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS: For the second consecutive season, the Cardinal finished third at the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship. The Cardinal lost to USC in sudden death, 12-11, in the semifinals on December 6 and bounced back with a 20-11 win over UCSD a day later.

NCAA RECORD: BretBonanni emphatically finished his junior campaign with an eight-goal outing in the NCAA third-place game against UC San Diego on December 7. The eight scores were just one shy of the single-game record in the history of the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship and his 11 total goals this year in La Jolla were the most in NCAA Championship history since Doug Munz scored 11 for Navy in 1994. The 11 goals were also new two-game NCAA Championship record since the tournament switched to a four-team format in 1995. Ivan Babic (USC; 2000) and Balazs Erdelyi (Pacific; 2013) held the previous two-game record of nine.

CHURNSIDE IS ELITE: Junior BJ Churnside was honored by the NCAA as this year’s men’s water polo Elite 89 award winner. The Elite 89, an award founded by the NCAA, recognizes the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers. The Elite 89 is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s 89 championships. Churnside, an electrical engineering major and two-time ACWPC All-Academic pick, owns a cumulative grade-point average of 3.786.

MPSF CHAMPS: Stanford earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship by virtue of claiming the MPSF title on Sunday, November 23. The Cardinal won the program’s fifth league championship, and first since 2004, with a 9-8 victory over tournament host Long Beach State. It also defeated Pepperdine (13-4) and USC (7-4) en route to the crown, which was added to the mantle alongside its trophies from 1994, 1998, 2001 and 2004. Stanford is the first of the conference’s northern brethren to win the title since California in 2006.

BEST SINCE: Stanford’s 26 wins were its most since the Cardinal went 27-1 and won a national championship in 1994. Stanford reached 20 wins for the 29th time in its history, the eighth time under John Vargas and for the second season in a row.

OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT: Stanford scored at least 20 goals 11 times in 2014. In the previous decade (2004-13), the Cardinal reached that mark in a single game on 12 total occasions. Stanford scored 453 total goals in 2014. Last season was the only time in the past decade Stanford totaled more than 400 or averaged more than 12 per contest (413; 14.2/game).

ALL AT ONCE: Prior to this season, four Stanford men’s water polo players had ever reached the 200-goal plateau and two more added their names in a one-week span in late September. At the Kap7 NorCal Classic on Sunday, Sept. 21, Alex Bowen attained the hallowed mark and was joined by teammate Bret Bonanni on Sunday, Sept. 28 at the Aggie Shootout. Bonanni (266 career goals) and Bowen (253) are second and third on Stanford’s all-time list, respectively, among other 200-goal luminaries Tony Azevedo (332; 2001-04), James Bergeson (235; 1979-82), Jody Campbell (211; 1978-81) and Wolf Wigo (203; 1991-94).

ON PACE: Bonanni concluded his junior season with a conference-leading 96 goals, just one shy of the single-season school-record 97 he tallied a year ago. He will enter his senior year 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.

VARGAS WINS 250TH: Stanford’s 25-1 victory over Occidental on Sept. 27 was the 250th of head coach John Vargas’ career at the helm of the Cardinal program. Vargas, who concluded his 13th year on The Farm, has won 76.8 percent of his games for Stanford (268 of 349).

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Adam Abdulhamid

ACWPC All-Academic “Outstanding”
MPSF All-Academic

Griffin Bolan

ACWPC All-Academic “Excellent”
MPSF All-Academic

Bret Bonanni

FINA Men’s Water Polo Player of the Year finalist
Peter J. Cutino Award finalist
ACWPC First Team All-American
Scored a conference-leading 96 goals, just one shy of his single-season school-record 97 (2013)
Will enter his senior year with 266 career scores, just 66 shy of Tony Azevedo’s Stanford and MPSF record (332)
The only Cardinal in history to post multiple 90-goal seasons
NCAA All-Tournament first team
All-MPSF first team
MPSF/Kap7 Player of the Week (Nov. 3)
MPSF/Kap7 All-Tournament Team
Capital One Academic All-District Men’s At-Large Team
ACWPC All-Academic “Superior”
MPSF All-Academic

Alex Bowen

Peter J. Cutino Award finalist
ACWPC First Team All-American
Finished career third all-time at Stanford and eighth in MPSF history in goals (253)
NCAA All-Tournament first team
All-MPSF first team
MPSF/Kap7 Tournament MVP

Reid Chase