IRVINE, Calif. – Stanford opened up the 2026 men’s water polo campaign this weekend with a pair of dominant road wins. The Cardinal opened the day with a 22-12 ranked win over No. 13 UC Irvine in the morning, then capped the day with a 16-4 win over Cal State Fullerton.
The Card jumped out to the early lead in the opening bout, scoring the first four goals of the game against the Anteaters. By the end of the quarter, Stanford was ahead 6-2 thanks to two goals from Botond Balogh as well as a goal and two assists from Ben Forer.
At halftime, the Cardinal’s lead had ballooned to 11-3. Balogh added another goal to give him a first-half hat trick, with Forer picking up a third assist of the game. Bernardo Herzer, making his Stanford debut, stopped seven shots in the first half.Â
Stanford added to the lead in the third, including three powerplay scores to make it 15-6 heading into the final quarter of action. The Anteaters scored six in the fourth, but the Card was able to add seven for the 22-12 final.
Forer led the way with five points, finishing with three assists and two goals. Balogh finished with four scores, and Ryan Ohl added in a hat trick to balance the attack. Freshman Dimitris Chatzis was strong in his debut as well, scoring twice and assisting twice.
Herzer finished with nine stops in the cage, only allowing six goals in 24 minutes of work.
In the second game, the Card again flew out of the gate and took an early lead. Stanford led 6-0 after the first quarter, scoring the game’s first eight goals. The Card led 11-1 at halftime, and held on in the second half for a 16-4 final.
Sophomore Cormac Mulloy started the game between the pipes, earning three saves against just four goals allowed. James Rozolis-Hill led the attack, scoring four goals on five shots. Two games into the season, the transfer from Harvard leads the Card with six goals.
The two wins push Stanford’s winning streak against non-conference opponents to 44 games across parts of the last four seasons.
Next up for the Cardinal is a bout with Pepperdine in Malibu on Sept. 5.
Stanford Goals (vs. UCI): B. Balogh (4), R. Ohl (3), J. Rozolis-Hill (2), A. Gheorghe (2), D. Chatzis (2), N. Austen (2), B. Forer (2), G. West, C. Arakelian, C. Caras, K. Kaneko
Stanford Goals (vs. CSF): J. Rozolis-Hill (4), R. Ohl (2), K. Mathiopoulos (2), E. Wu (2), B. Balogh, G. West, D. Chatzis, K. Kaneko, N. Austen, B. Forer
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