Following a successful three-game sweep this past weekend at the Inland Empire Classic in Southern California, the No. 1-ranked Stanford men’s water polo team (3-0) is in good shape as it prepares for the upcoming Kap7 NorCal Classic hosted by Pacific.

“Every game is important,” stressed head coach John Vargas. “Every game is critical.”

With his 13-year Stanford coaching experience, Vargas emphasized that every year needs to be better than the last, especially in terms of defense.

“Last year was good, but we need to be better,” said junior Brett Bonanni.

He added that the season is long, so it’s vital to “stay positive and stay focused.”

Fifth year senior Nick Hoversten said that he was excited for the year, and claimed that “this is the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

“We have a real opportunity to do something amazing,” Hoversten said.

Stanford opens weekend play at the Classic on Saturday against Redlands. Stanford beat Redlands this past weekend, in addition to beating No. 22 Concordia and No. 23 Pomona-Pitzer. The Cardinal outscored the three teams 63-17 in the three-game sweep.

Freshman Cody Smith had a successful opening weekend in his Stanford debut, netting 11 goals, including five against Pomona, averaging 3.67 goals per game.

The addition of a strong new freshman class, who in Vargas’ words are “awesome,” sets up the team to be a real championship contender again this year.

Last year, then-No. 5 Stanford finished third in the Classic with a win against then-No. 3 Cal.

The Card will hit the pool Saturday at 8 a.m. against Redlands. A win would advance the team to play the winner of No. 10 UC-Irvine and No. 8 UC-San Diego, with the losers playing in the consolation quarterfinals.

Contact Alexandra Gabor at agabor ‘at’ stanford.edu.