LA JOLLA, Calif. - The No. 3 Cardinal men's water polo team opened the 2024 campaign in perfect fashion on Saturday, winning 20-3 against Redlands and 15-10 over No. 8 UC Davis at the Triton Invitational.
Stanford cruised in the first win over Redlands, led by Jackson Painter's four goals. Painter added in two of the four in the fourth quarter to ice the game. Riley Pittman added a hat trick, and Jack Merrill and Chase McFarland each contributed a pair of scores.
The Cardinal capped the night with a top-10 win against UC Davis, jumping out to score 10 times in the first half. Pittman tossed in five goals to make eight on the day, while Jensen, Dash McFarland and Gavin West each scored twice.
McFarland, a 2024 transfer from UCSB, scored his first goals for the Cardinal. Freshmen Will Schneider and Ryan Ohl also tallied their first collegiate goals in the win.
Parrish's two goals on the day have him just shy of eclipsing the century mark for career goals, currently boasting 98.
The Cardinal is back with another pair of games tomorrow, beginning at 9:15 a.m. PT against Concordia. Stanford's four games at the Triton Invitational wrap up at 1:15 p.m. PT against No. 6 UC Irvine.
No. 3 Stanford vs. Redlands
RED 1 – 2 – 0 – 0 = 3
STAN 7 – 2 – 5 – 6 = 20
STAN Goals: J. Painter (4), R. Pittman (3), J. Merrill (2), C. McFarland (2), S. Jensen (2), C.J. Indart, G. Leonardi, E. Parrish, A. Gheorghe, G. West, G. Watson, C. Arakelian
RED Goals: M. Wagener (2), R. Guishi
No. 3 Stanford vs. No. 8 UC Davis
UCD 4 – 2 – 1 – 3 = 10
STAN 5 – 5 – 2 – 3 = 15
STAN Goals: R. Pittman (5), D. McFarland (2)*, G. West (2), S. Jensen (2), C.J. Indart, E. Parrish, C. Arakelian, R. Ohl*, W. Schneider*
UCD Goals: H. Neach (3), T. Kiesling (3), A. Hitchcock, W. Nomura, A. Aznar Beltran, J. Kujawa