LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The No. 2 Stanford men’s water polo team finished third at the SoCal Tournament in Los Angeles on Sunday. The Cardinal dropped its second contest of 2014 in the semifinals against No. 3 California, 11-7, before bouncing back for a victory over No. 1 UCLA, 7-6.
The results move Stanford’s record to 15-2 overall. It remains the program’s best start since winning 19 of its first 20 games in 2009.
Sunday provided the exact opposite result from the final day of the Kap7 NorCal Classic On Sept. 21 in Stockton. That afternoon, the then-No. 1 Cardinal defeated Cal 11-8 to advance to the championship match against then-No. 2 UCLA, which defeated Stanford 9-7.
No. 4 USC won this tournament in Southern California with Sunday victories against UCLA (10-6) and Cal (10-9).
Stanford will be back on The Farm to take on the Trojans on Saturday morning at 10:30 a.m. in a match televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
No. 3 California 11 – No. 2 Stanford 7
In a rematch of the semifinals of the Kap7 NorCal Classic in late September, No. 3 Cal flipped the script and avenged its earlier loss to the Cardinal, defeating Stanford 11-7 at Spieker Aquatics Center. Stanford, then ranked first in the country, defeated the then-No. 4 Golden Bears, 11-8, in Stockton on Sept. 21.
Bret Bonanni scored three times for Stanford and BJ Churnside added two, but a four-goal outburst from the Golden Bears in the second quarter gave them the upper hand.
Bonnani scored two first-quarter goals at 5:31 and 1:45, which evened things up after Colin Mulcahy (6:56) and Thomas Carroll (6:03) broke through first for Cal. Conor Neumann’s score with 41 seconds on the clock appeared to give Cal a lead heading into the second, but Stanford’s Cody Smith converted a penalty with just four seconds to go to make the score 3-3 after one.
Alex Bowen’s goal with 5:30 on the clock in the second was Stanford’s only score of the frame. The Golden Bears got goals from J.D. Ratchford (7:27), Chandler Jarrels-Stickney (3:28), Luca Cupido (2:58) and Mulcahy to lead 7-4 heading into halftime.
The Cardinal would never get closer than three the rest of the way. Cupido scored again for Cal coming out of the break (7:35) and was answered by Bonanni less than a minute later (6:48). Aleksa Saponjic converted a penalty at 5:14 and Churnside tallied his first of the game with just one tick left in the third quarter.
Saponjic again found the back of the cage in the fourth (6:47) to make the score 10-6. Churnside (4:27) and Cupido (3:19) closed out the game midway through the final quarter to make the score 11-7.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 3 Cal
Oct. 12, 2014 • Los Angeles, Calif.
CAL 3 – 4 – 2 – 2 = 11
STAN 3 – 1 – 2 – 1 = 7
Cal Goals: Luca Cupido 3, Colin Mulcahy 2, Aleksa Saponjic 2, Thomas Carroll, Conor Neumann, J.D. Ratchford, Chandler Jarrels-Stickney
Cal Saves: Jon Sibley 7
Stanford Goals: Bret Bonanni 3, BJ Churnside 2, Alex Bowen, Cody Smith
Stanford Saves: Drew Holland 9
No. 2 Stanford 7 – No. 1 UCLA 6
In another 1-vs-2 matchup, Stanford came away victorious to finish the SoCal Tournament in third place after a 7-6 win against the host Bruins. It was the second meeting of the season between UCLA and Stanford and second of the top two teams in the CWPA poll. As on Sept. 21 in the championship of the Kap7 NorCal Classic, the second-ranked squad won.
Bret Bonanni and Adam Abdulhamid opened up a minor 2-0 lead for Stanford with goals at 5:28 and 2:25 in the first quarter. Chancellor Ramirez scored UCLA’s first on a power play with 1:43 left in the opening period.
Adam Abdulhamid stretched out the Cardinal’s lead to 3-1 with 5:18 left in the second, but a 6-on-5 score for the Bruins’ Jack Fellner (5:01) and another tally from Danny McClintick (2:28) knotted things up, 3-3.
Nick Hoversten broke the deadlock with a score at 2:00 and Bonanni added another pair sandwiched around halftime, the first with 0:33 left in the second and the second with 5:10 remaining in the third.
Alex Roelse put one home in a man-up situation (4:34) in the third quarter and Ryder Roberts scored early in the fourth (7:23) to pull UCLA within one, 6-5, but Hoversten’s second goal of the game (5:26) gave the Cardinal the breathing room it needed.
Cristiano Mirarchi’s goal with 2:53 to go was UCLA’s and the game’s last.
Drew Holland made 10 saves for the second time on the weekend and now has reached double digits in stops on five occasions this season.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 1 UCLA
Oct. 12, 2014 • Los Angeles, Calif.
UCLA 1 – 2 – 1 – 2 = 6
STAN 2 – 3 – 1 – 1 = 7
UCLA Goals: Chancellor Ramirez, Cristiano Mirarchi, Alex Roelse, Jack Fellner, Danny McClintick, Ryder Roberts
UCLA Saves: Garrett Danner 10
Stanford Goals: Bret Bonanni 3, Adam Abdulhamid 2, Nick Hoversten 2
Stanford Saves: Drew Holland 10