STANFORD, Calif. – Redshirt junior Adam Abudlhamid netted four goals to lead the fourth-ranked Stanford men’s water polo team to an 11-4 victory over seventh-ranked Long Beach State Saturday night at Avery Aquatic Center as the Cardinal advanced to the semifinals of the Kap7 NorCal Invitational.
The win, coupled with an 18-0 victory over Santa Clara earlier Saturday, improved the Cardinal to 7-0 on the season.
In a matchup between two of the top four teams in this week’s Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, No. 4 Stanford will meet No. 2 USC at 12:15 p.m. PT on Sunday at Avery Aquatic Center in the second semifinal. Top-ranked UCLA will face No. 3 California at 10:50 a.m. in the other semifinal.
The Cardinal opened an early lead against Long Beach State as Abdulhamid followed a BJ Churnside goal with three-straight scores to give the Cardinal a 4-0 halftime lead.
Stanford had held its opponents (Brown, Santa Clara, Long Beach State) scoreless for nearly 51 straight minutes (50:54) before the 49ers scored 1:06 into the third quarter.
Stanford responded as Marco Stanchi finished a strong offensive possession with a wrap-around goal from behind his back to give the Cardinal a 5-1 advantage.
Marco Stanchi with the wrap-around behind the back strike for the goal to give Cardinal a 5-1 lead in the third pic.twitter.com/IcmSwMIUP2
— Stanford Water Polo (@StanfordMWP) September 20, 2015
BJ Churnside then took a cross from Abdulhamid and rattled the cage from the corner to extend Stanford’s lead to 6-1.
Abdulhamid crosses it to Churnside, who rattles the cage to put the Cardinal up, 6-1, in the third #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/TiKS0dkWOV
— Stanford Water Polo (@StanfordMWP) September 20, 2015
The Cardinal responded from another Long Beach State score with goals from Bret Bonanni, Abdulhamid and Griffin Bolan to build a seven-point advantage (9-2).
Stanford and Long Beach State traded goals over the final six minutes as the Cardinal punched its ticket to the semifinals with the 11-4 victory.
Saturday afternoon’s game was a rematch of last year’s MPSF Championship game between the two schools, which the Cardinal won 9-8 to earn its first league title since 2004.
Stanford earned an 18-0 victory over Santa Clara in its opening-round match earlier Saturday at Avery Aquatic Center.