Never in the history of the Stanford men’s water polo program have the Cardinal fallen to Santa Clara. The streak continued this week as Stanford defeated the Broncos, 15-9, in the Cardinal’s home opener, extending the men’s team’s streak to 21.
Despite being tied at the half, No. 3 Stanford (3-0, 0-0 MPSF) was dominant in the final two periods and outscored No. 15 SCU (4-1, 0-0 WCC) 11-5 after the break. The Cardinal victory spoiled Santa Clara’s previously undefeated season. Before Wednesday night, the Broncos were having their best start to a season since 2009.
In the Avery Aquatic Center, Stanford shot an impressive 0.484 and was 4-7 on powerplays, beating out SCU in both categories.
Graduate student driver Tyler Abramson led the team with six points (three goals, three assists). Redshirt sophomore utility Troy Gleason, senior 2MD AJ Rossman and redshirt sophomore driver Walker Seymour each had two goals. In total, ten different Cardinal found the back of the next, showing just how much depth this Stanford team has.
Freshman Liam Harrison, a two-time National Junior Olympics Tournament MVP, made his first career appearance as goalkeeper for the Cardinal. The Tustin-native played for 16 minutes, saving 50% of the ten shots he faced.
On Friday, Stanford will head to the Princeton Invite, where the team looks to remain undefeated. The Cardinal will face five teams — the highest ranked of which is the home team, currently No. 12 in the country.
The weekend tournament will be the Stanford team’s first trip out of state since the Navy Open in Sept. 2019.