Men’s water polo faces uphill battle against No. 1 UCLA

The No. 4 Stanford men’s water polo team (14-4, 0-1 MPSF) will host No. 1 UCLA (17-0, 1-0) in a much-anticipated rematch, likely not the last time the two historical programs will face off this year.

The upcoming match gives Stanford the opportunity to rebound from last weekend’s matches against No. 2 USC and No. 3 Cal, in which the team dropped consecutive games for the first time in nearly two years.

Sophomore goalkeeper Oliver Lewis (left) has seen increased minutes this season for the No. 4 Stanford men’s water polo team and has excelled in his role, with 50 saves this season and a goals against average of 4.28. (HECTOR GARCIA-MOLINA/stanfordphoto.com)

Historically, the Bruins and Cardinal are both well-acquainted with success. The Pac-12 recently announced its all-century men’s water polo team, which features four former Stanford players — including Tony Azevedo ’04, who was named Pac-12 Player of the Century — and six from UCLA. In terms of national titles, UCLA has claimed nine in comparison to Stanford’s eight.

The Bruins will be riding high, coming off a Kap7 SoCal Invitational title last weekend. In the championship game against USC, UCLA’s junior goalkeeper Garrett Danner tied his career high of 15 saves and senior Anthony Daboub set his career high of 4 goals in a game. John Vargas’ squad will also have to work hard to shut down the offense of junior Ryder Roberts, who is on fire after scoring nine goals in the past three games — four alone in the USC game last Sunday.

In Stanford’s narrow 8-7 loss to UCLA earlier this season, the Cardinal trailed 6-3 well into the third quarter. Although senior Brett Bonnani and sophomore Mitchell Mendoza were able to pool together 3 timely goals in the span of 1:59, it wasn’t enough to seal the win.

On average, UCLA and Stanford allow roughly the same number of goals against them each game (5.24 and 5.29, respectively), but UCLA on average outscores its opponents roughly 4:1 in the first half of play. If Stanford is able to keep pace with the Bruins in the first half, the team will have a chance to capitalize in the third quarter, in which UCLA has allowed an uncharacteristic 34 goals this season.

This weekend’s matchup will either temporarily derail the Bruins in their hunt for back-to-back titles or potentially push the Cardinal out of contention for the top prize. Either way, it will be another great chapter in the never-ending back-and-forth between two of the nation’s elite.

Contact Lauren Wegner at lwegner ‘at’ stanford.edu.