Men’s water polo has strong showing in Davis

Sept. 29, 2015, 1:14 a.m.

No. 2 Stanford men’s water polo traveled to Davis, California last weekend and swept Concordia, No. 10 UC Davis, Santa Clara and No. 19 San Jose State at the Aggie Roundup, which took place at the Schaal Aquatics Center.

The Cardinal kicked off the weekend on Saturday morning with a 20-3 win over Concordia, highlighted by junior Justin Roberto’s standout performance, as he led the team with a four-goal streak in the fourth quarter.

Adam Abdulhamid (right)... Stanford competes against UC Irvine at Avery Stadium.  Stanford defeated UC Irvine 12-6.
Adam Abdulhamid (center) scored a total of nine goals in Stanford’s wins over Santa Clara and San Jose and notched 13 over the weekend. (BOB DREBIN/isiphotos.com)

Senior Brett Bonanni started off the weekend’s action and scored the first goal just 30 seconds into the first quarter. Bonanni scored another goal and senior Adam Abdulhamid marked two more before the Eagles could rally with a goal of their own.

Stanford ended the first quarter of play up 5-1 and built its lead to 11-2 by half.

The Cardinal didn’t lose their momentum after the intermission and netted 8 more goals to bring the score to 19-2 with 3:12 left to play in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Grady Williams tallied Stanford’s last point of the match, leaving the score 20-3.

In the afternoon Stanford had another strong match up against host UC Davis, bringing home an 18-6 win.

Bonanni led the team with 6 goals against the Aggies, followed by Abdulhamid with 3.

The Aggies fought back, with the score ending up at 3-2 with five minutes left in the half, but never surpassed the Cardinal. Stanford consistently extended its lead, ending the half leading 7-3.

The Cardinal came back in the third quarter and tallied 5 more goals compared to Davis’s 2. The team had an equally strong showing in the fourth quarter, adding 6 more points to seal the 18-6 victory.

Stanford started off Sunday with another victory, a decisive 18-5 win over Santa Clara lead by Abdulhamid, who notched 5 goals. Junior Reid Chase also contributed 4 goals to the victory.

The Cardinal started off the game strong defensively, holding Santa Clara scoreless for the first quarter.

Santa Clara tightened up the game in the second quarter after a three-point streak, bringing the score to 7-3. Additionally, the Broncos stepped up their defense and held the Cardinal to 7 points until the half.

However, Santa Clara couldn’t hold the Cardinal back in the second half and ended the game with an 18-5 lead.

The Cardinal finished off the weekend with a 20-5 victory over San Jose State, led by Abdulhamid with 4 goals.

The Cardinal led the Spartans 11-2 at the half, adding 3 more goals in the third and finished the game off strong with 6 more goals in the fourth.

Senior BJ Churnside, junior Jackson Kimbell and freshman Marco Stanchi posted 2 goals each for the match.

The Cardinal will travel to Los Angeles next Saturday to face No. 3 USC, whom they beat on Sept. 20 in the semifinals of the Kap7 NorCal Invitational. The matchup against the Trojans will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the McDonald’s Swim Stadium.

Contact Laura Stickells at lauraczs ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Laura Stickells is one of the Managing Editors of Sports at The Stanford Daily. Growing up in the small, rural town of Bishop, California, Laura captained the powderpuff football team and became particularly adept at driving heavy equipment in her later years, a skill that helped her find a position as an intern at NBC Sports this summer working on Olympic coverage. In her spare time, Laura competes on the Stanford Equestrian Team. She also writes football better than the boys. Laura is a sophomore majoring in communications and can be reached at lauraczs 'at' stanford.edu.

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