Stanford Athletics

---

---

STANFORD, Calif. – No. 3 Stanford travels south for a pair of top-10 matchups this weekend. The Cardinal faces No. 5 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday at noon at Campus Pool in Santa Barbara and No. 10 Pepperdine on Sunday at noon at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool in Malibu.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live stats for Saturday's contest at UC Santa Barbara will be available at http://www.thefosh.net/livestats.php?gameid=5473. Sunday's matchup with Pepperdine will be live-streamed at https://watchstadium.com/live/145501/. Live stats will also be available at http://www.thefosh.net/livestats.php?gameid=5365.
 
STRONG START: Stanford is 5-0 to start the season for the fifth time in the last six years (4-1 in 2017). The Cardinal won its first eight contests of the 2015 season.
 
DOUBLE-DIGIT DOMINANCE: All five of Stanford's wins this season have come by double-digits. The Cardinal has scored at least 20 goals in three of the five matches, highlighted by a 23-goal performance against Johns Hopkins.
 
RANKINGS: Stanford is ranked No. 3 in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association Poll. The Cardinal moved up one spot this week, passing California. Stanford has been in the top five of the national poll every week over the past three seasons. UC Santa Barbara is ranked No. 5 in the latest poll, marking the Cardinal's highest ranked foe so far this season. Pepperdine is ranked No. 10 in the latest poll, released on Sept. 19.
 
1,000 WINS: Stanford recorded its milestone 1,000th career win in program history on Sept. 8 with a 23-6 victory against Johns Hopkins at the Princeton Invitational. Stanford's all-time record is 1,002-308-8.   
 
SCORING STREAK CONTINUES: Sophomore Ben Hallock continued his impressive streak of scoring at least one goal in every game he has played in as a member of the Cardinal. Hallock, who has 67 career goals, has scored in all 26 career matches. He has posted 11 goals in his four matches this season.
 
SECOND QUARTER SCORING: While Stanford has earned five decisive victories, the second quarter is where the Cardinal has begun to pull away from its opponent. Over the five matches, Stanford has out-scored its opponent 23-1 in the second period.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Eight of the 12 members of the Cardinal that have scored at least one goal this year are in either their freshman or sophomore year of eligibility. Sophomore Tyler Abramson leads the program in scoring with 18 goals, while fellow sophomore Ben Hallock ranks fourth in scoring with 11 goals in four matches. In all, five newcomers have scored goals this season, including Jackson Seybold (9), Josh Orrick (6), AJ Rossman (6), Parker Killion (4) and Zack LaGrange (3).
 
True freshman goalie George Hagestad has played one quarter in the cage against both Johns Hopkins and No. 20 Santa Clara, recording two saves in each contest.  
 
ACTIVE SCORING LEADER: Senior All-American Blake Parrish is Stanford's active career scoring leader. After registering 12 goals in five matches this past weekend, he enters this weekend with 122 career scores. 
 
WILLIAMS GOES WILD: Junior Bennett Williams has 17 goals in Stanford's five matches to rank second on the Cardinal roster in scoring. He has multiple goals in every contest with a career-best five scores twice this season in wins over No. 13 Princeton and No. 20 Santa Clara.
 
LEWIS BACK IN THE CAGE: Fifth-year senior Oliver Lewis, who redshirted last season, is back in the cage for the Cardinal. He has started all five contests and played in 18 of a possible 20 quarters this past weekend, averaging 11.78 saves per game with a 4.00 goals-against average.
 
FINA WORLD CUP: Sophomore Ben Hallock and junior Dylan Woodhead traveled to Germany last week to compete with USA Water Polo in the FINA World Cup. They joined former Stanford All-American Alex Bowen as Cardinal representatives on the World Cup roster. Team USA claimed sixth place in the FINA World Cup, with all three Stanford representatives recording multiple goals during the tournament.    
 
A LOOK AT UCSB: UCSB, ranked No. 5 nationally, is 12-3 overall. The Gauchos, a member of the Golden Coast Conference, are coming off a 16-14 overtime victory over Pepperdine Thursday night on the road. Boris Jovanovic leads UCSB with 48 goals in 15 games. All three of the Gauchos' defeats this season have come at the hands of teams from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in Cal (12-9), UCLA (10-7) and USC (10-3).
 
A LOOK AT PEPPERDINE: Pepperdine, ranked No. 10 nationally, is 6-4 on the season. The Waves dropped a 16-10 decision to top-ranked UCLA last week and came up short in Thursday's overtime thriller with UCSB at home. Senior Chris Dilworth has a team-high 26 goals.
 
2017 RECAP: The Cardinal finished 19-5 and ranked fourth in the final Collegiate Water Polo Association poll in 2017. Stanford defeated California, 11-10, in last year's Big Splash to secure a share of the 2017 MPSF regular-season title and the top-seed in the MPSF Tournament.
 
NEW LOOK IN 2018: Stanford presents a different look this fall, with 10 letterwinners from last year's team graduated following the 2017 campaign, including five All-Americans. 
 
VARGAS IN 17TH SEASON ON THE FARM: Dunlevie Family Director of Men's Water Polo, John Vargas, is in his 17th season on The Farm. He has directed the Cardinal to a 327-102 record that includes the 2002 NCAA title in his stellar career as the leader of the Stanford program.