Fourth-ranked Stanford Men’s water polo (16-3, 1-1 MPSF) extended its win streak to ten games while taking a big step toward an MPSF title as it edged No. 3 UCLA (16-3, 0-2) 7-5 at home this Saturday.

Sophomore Ben Hallock earned an 11th hat trick in only 19 games to lift the Cardinal above the Bruins. These three scores increased Hallock’s season tally to a team-high 52. After redshirting his first season with Stanford, the Olympian is living up to the expectations set for his collegiate career as the top recruit of the 2016 high school class. This season, Hallock has been spurring the Cardinal offense and is already in the top-10 active scorer after playing less than one year.

In the cage, senior Drew Holland posted eight saves to secure the win. During the final minute of play, Holland had a game-sealing save as the Bruins were attempting to overcome the two-goal lead the Cardinal had earned during the third quarter and never gave up. Holland’s 844 career saves still rank him first all-time for Stanford.

With the win, the Cardinal set themselves up for a decisive showdown against top-ranked Cal (18-1, 2-0) this Thursday. The winner of the contest will be crowned MPSF regular-season champion, as in case of success the Cardinal would win a tiebreaker between Stanford, USC and Cal.

On Saturday, Hallock got things started as he opened the game with a score less than two minutes in, giving the Cardinal an early lead. UCLA responded with a pair of goals to take its only lead of the game, but Blake Parrish quickly answered with a goal for the Cardinal, off a feed from freshman Sawyer Rhodes who found the junior right in front of the goal.

Ben Hallock added his second score of the game in the final seconds of the first half to give the Cardinal a 3-2 lead heading into the break.

Coming back from the break, senior Connor Stapleton extended the lead with a laser shot in the bottom right corner of the Bruins goal. The two teams traded goals in the rest of the contest, and senior Jackson Kimbell scored the final goal of the game of senior Cody Smith’s second assist of the game.

Stanford next faces Cal on Thursday at home. The Bears are riding a winning streak of eight games while dropping only one game this season. With the stakes of the game, the faceoff promises to be interesting.

Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.