On Sunday, No. 4 Stanford (14-3, 0-1 MPSF) bounced back from last week’s loss to defeat No. 8 UC Davis (12-6, 4-0 WWPA) in dominant fashion.
Eight Cardinal players scored — including five who scored multiple times — illustrating Stanford’s balanced, deep attack.
Stanford was strong on both sides of the ball throughout the game. Early goals by grad student driver Tyler Abramson, junior driver Larsen Weigle, junior 2M Beck Jurasius and senior driver Quinn Woodhead led the Cardinal to an early 4-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
The Aggies only goal came in the second quarter, when, on a power play, Michael Plastino scored off of Spencer Towill’s assist. Immediately after, however, Stanford regained momentum and sophomore driver Jackson Painter found the back of the net. Soon after, redshirt sophomore utility Troy Gleason scored twice, leading Stanford into the half at a 7-1 lead.
For the rest of the game, the Cardinal remained in control. Early in the third quarter, redshirt sophomore driver Walker Seymour scored with help from Abramson. A few minutes later, on a power play, senior 2MD AJ Rossman found the back of the cage, and then Jurasius did, too. With 0:04 left in the quarter, Painter scored again, giving the Cardinal a 11-1 lead into the fourth quarter.
Stanford scored twice more in the fourth quarter unanswered to extend their lead even more.
The Cardinal’s high-scoring output was equally matched by the strong defense. Most notably, Stanford’s goalies, sophomore Nolan Krutonog and freshman Liam Harrison, only allowed a 0.040 shot percentage. Krutonog had seven saves.
Sunday’s game is the most lopsided win for Stanford against a top-ten team since the Cardinal beat No. 10 Harvard, 21-5, in 2017.
The Cardinal now look to carry their momentum into a high-stakes MPSF match-up versus USC on the Farm on Saturday.