Off to a flying start, No. 2 Stanford men’s water polo (4-0, 0-0 MPSF) raced to a seventh consecutive 4-0 start over the weekend at the Navy Invitational, picking up blowout wins over Navy, Iona, Johns Hopkins and No. 12 Princeton.
Stanford’s dominance was comprehensive, as the Cardinal outscored their four weekend opponents by a total score of 90-14, usually dismantling them before halftime.
The first contest against Navy on Saturday morning featured 11 different scorers, including a career-high six goals from junior Tyler Abramson, who helped lead Stanford to a 26-3 rout of the host Midshipmen. Not once in 2018 did the Cardinal feature more than 10 different players on the scoresheet.
Behind Abramson, senior Dylan Woodhead pitched in four while redshirt junior Ben Hallock added a treble. In front of goal, senior Andrew Chun made his debut as the team’s starting goalkeeper and collected six saves in three quarters before rotating out for sophomore George Hagestad in the fourth.
Stanford was again unchallenged in the afternoon game, ripping apart Iona for a 20-1 victory in which Hallock (5) and Woodhead (4) were the leading scorers and the Cardinal never trailed.
Picking up where they left off, the Cardinal made it a four-match sweep on Sunday with another pair of victories.
In its third match, Stanford showcased its incredible depth, bulldozing Johns Hopkins 22-2 with four goal contributions from sophomore Jack Seybold and redshirt sophomore Parker Killion.
By the afternoon, Stanford’s final match against Princeton, the team’s only ranked opponent, was little more than a formality and the Cardinal summarily dispatched Princeton 22-8. Hallock paced the Cardinal with four goals and Chun made eight saves over the four quarters.
After a weekend of competition with little resistance, Stanford looks forward to an exhibition game against Pro Recco, an Italian club team, on Thursday at Avery Aquatics Center. The Cardinal could then see some more challenging opponents at the Stanford Invitational on Saturday and Sunday.
Contact Andrew Tan at tandrew ‘at’ stanford.edu.