LA JOLLA, Calif. - No. 3 Stanford men's water polo is at home for the first time this season, hosting No. 11 UCSB on Thursday at Avery Aquatic Center before hitting the road to take on No. 10 Long BEach State on Sunday.
The Cardinal enters at a perfect 4-0, after a dominant showing at last weekend's Triton Invitational. Stanford picked up a pair of top-10 wins in the process, over No. 8 UC Davis and No. 6 UC Irvine.
HOT START » Stanford is off to a perfect 4-0 start to 2024, outscoring opponents 73-22 in the process.
TOP COMPETITION » Stanford already boasts a pair of top-10 wins on the season, and has an opportunity to add two more ranked wins to the resume. Last season, the Card fell 12-10 in the season opener to then-No. 9 Long Beach State.
MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK » Riley Pittman earned the first MPSF Player of the Week honors of the season, after scoring 11 goals and notching three assists last weekend.
TOUCHDOWN, JACK MERRILL » Jack Merrill set the early pace for most single-game goals by a member of the Cardinal this season. The redshirt sophomore scored six times in a 24-4 win over Concordia.
FRESH FACES » Four Cardinal newcomers scored their first goals over the weekend, led by senior transfer Dash McFarland's five. Freshmen Ryan Ohl, Will Schneider and Ben Forer all picked up multiple goals at the four games in La Jolla.
VETERAN STANDOUTS » The Card returns three All America selections from 2023 in Jackson Painter, Riley Pittman and Ethan Parrish. The trio extended a nearly-fifty-year run of Stanford landing multiple student-athletes on an All America team every year since 1975.
RECORDS ON WATCH » Painter's 155 career goals with Stanford have him 29 goals shy of the 10th-most in program history. The last edit to the program's top-10 list was 2021. Additionally, Parrish enters the weekend just two goals away from his 100th career score.
CARDINAL, WHITE AND BLUE » Four Cardinal products took home bronze with Team USA at this summer's Paris Olympic Games. Ben Hallock, Alex Bowen, Dylan Woodhead and Drew Holland were a part of the first Olympic medal since 2008, with Hallock serving as the team captain.