After helping the men’s water polo team to a big win at the SoCal Tournament last weekend, freshman Alex Bowen got some good news when he was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Mikasa Player of the Week for the week of Sep. 26-Oct. 2.
The San Diego native scored 11 goals in the Cardinal’s 4-0 run to the SoCal title, which included an upset win over No. 1 USC in the semifinals. He scored six goals in the championship match against California–Bowen’s final tally also doubled as the game-winner in overtime.
In wins over No. 14 Princeton and No. 5 Pepperdine, the utility player netted five goals, including a hat trick in Stanford’s 7-5 win over the Waves on Saturday night. After just nine games in his first year on the Farm, Bowen leads the team with 19 goals.
The conference honor is the first for a Cardinal player this season and the first since Brian Pingree was named Player of the Week last October, which also came following an upset win over No. 1 USC.
Stanford returns home for the first time this season as the Card begins MPSF play with matches against conference foes Pepperdine and UC-Santa Barbara. Stanford and the Waves square off Friday night at 7 p.m., with the matchup against the Gauchos slated to tip off at 12 p.m. on Sunday. Both matches will take place at the Avery Aquatic Center.
–Miles Bennett-Smith